Nottingham Forest defender Ola Aina believes a timely offside flag could have prevented a serious injury to his teammate, Taiwo Awoniyi. Awoniyi suffered a significant abdominal injury during Forest’s recent 2-2 draw against Leicester City, an injury so severe it required urgent surgery and placed him in an induced coma for recovery.
The incident occurred late in the game. Awoniyi collided with the post while attempting to reach a cross from Anthony Elanga. Aina points out that Elanga was clearly offside in the build-up to the play. While the assistant referee eventually raised the flag, it only happened after Awoniyi’s collision, leading Aina to believe a quicker call could have prevented the injury. “Anthony was miles offside,” Aina stated in an interview with the Daily Mail. “Surely you could just lift the flag up?” he questioned, expressing his preference for the immediate offside calls of the past. He directly connects the delayed flag to Awoniyi’s injury, saying “none of this would have happened to T if the flag had just gone up.”
The incident has sparked further controversy surrounding the game. Following the match, Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis stormed onto the pitch to confront manager Nuno Espirito Santo. Forest later released a statement clarifying that Marinakis’ emotional reaction stemmed from witnessing Awoniyi’s pain and frustration with the medical team’s decision to let him continue playing. The club labelled previous reports of a disagreement between the owner and manager as ‘fake news.’ The incident highlights the intense emotions surrounding Awoniyi’s injury and the debate surrounding the timing of offside calls in football.
