Hawk-eye Innovations, the company that provide the Premier League with their VAR technology, have apologised for an incorrect graphic being provided to BT Sport during their coverage of Manchester United’s 2-0 win over Huddersfield Town on Saturday.
United midfielder Juan Mata had a goal ruled out just before half-time during the FA Cup fifth round tie with referee Kevin Friend referring his decision to the Video Assistant Referee Neil Swarbrick.
A technical issue led to an incorrect graphic being provided by Hawk-Eye to @btsportfootball last night. To confirm, the #VAR saw the correct image with the correct lines to make the decision. This was a case of the wrong image being provided to the broadcaster and we apologise. pic.twitter.com/QqbAWVfbi1
— Hawk-Eye Innovations (@Hawkeye_view) February 18, 2018
According to Hawk-Eye, a technical issue led to the VAR viewing a different image of the offside line than what was shown on BT Sport, which, as you can see, is comically out of shape.
BT presenter Jake Humphreys and pundit Robbie Savage were bemused by the footage without both men taken aback by the images on their screens.
“That was a shambles” said Savage.
“Offside should be clear and obvious. The lines aren’t straight! It’s so difficult to decide on that Jake, is it clear and obvious those lines don’t tell us.”
Humphreys added:
“This technology’s coming in we’re all doing our best to embrace it and try and have it as the future of football and then something like this happens.”
