The North London derby between Tottenham and Arsenal has been subject to two lengthy postponements, but it has now been revealed that a full-scale investigation will take place.
Tottenham vs Arsenal was interrupted twice due to VAR issues (Image: Getty Images)
Umpires have been promised a thorough investigation into the “utter nonsense” of the delay in north London. There was a six-minute delay in the first half, and the start of the second half was postponed again due to technical problems with the VAR equipment.
Referee Peter Banks was unable to speak to his assistants Blake Antrobus and Eddie Smart, as well as the VAR team at Stockley Park, as technology company Hawkeye is responsible for the “communications pack” at the heart of the matter.
The PGMO (Professional Game Match Officials) is investigating the communication and technology breakdown, which was a very bad situation for the Premier League and for Sunday’s premier game, which is being broadcast around the world.
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Sky pundit Gary Neville said: “This is complete nonsense. One of the most important games of the season, a great start, a quick start, but we’ve stopped for a couple of minutes now and they’ll have to warm up and reset again. It’s an absolute shambles.”
“You can’t stop the game for two minutes because the linesman can’t communicate with the referee. We’ve been without that for 100 years, so we can play here. The whole crowd is waiting now because of IT issues.”
Mirror Sports has reached out to the Hawkeyes for comment, but has not yet received a response. This isn’t the first time, as there have been delays in the past, but this was the most high-profile and embarrassing.
However, in this case, the onus was not on VAR or the referee, but on the equipment provider.
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Gary Neville gives terrible VAR verdict (Image: James Gill – Danehouse, Getty Images)
After the match, Sky’s super-funny reporter Gary Cotterill joked with Mikel Arteta about the breakdown in the press conference, making the Arsenal manager laugh by miming his microphone not working during a question.
But Arteta said: “Every time you leave the changing room late you get a huge fine.
“So I said to them, 6, 7, 8, 9 minutes, so who gets fined? So, yes, I have one in my bag now.”
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