Why did Bournemouth VAR check take eight minutes?

The Football Association has said the record eight-minute VAR stoppage during Bournemouth's FA Cup fifth-round win against Wolves was caused by a congested penalty area.

It came during the first weekend of the semi-automated offside system being trialled in English football, which is supposed to reduce the decision time by 30 seconds in close offside calls.

The officials were unable to rely on that technology during the check, and needed to revert to manually drawn lines before disallowing Bournemouth defender Milos Kerkez's 35th-minute goal.

Fellow defender Dean Huijsen was adjudged to have been in an offside position as Kerkez's effort brushed his shoulder.

But the stoppage was also extended as the video assistant referee (VAR) pairing Timothy Wood and Darren England made two different checks for handball - including against Huijsen - prior to the tight offside call.

Wolves supporters did not celebrate the decision that benefited their team, and allied with the home supporters by chanting "it's not football any more" and "this is embarrassing" during the unprecedented stoppage.

During the break in play, referee Sam Barrott explained what was happening to the managers and players, while some on the pitch opted to re-do their warm-up routines.

The previous longest VAR check was believed to be five minutes 37 seconds in the Premier League match between West Ham and Aston Villa in March 2024.

The FA's explainer of semi-automated offsides said: "Most offside decisions will be quicker, but VAR will still have the option to draw crosshairs as a back-up if required.

"This process may be necessary in 'edge cases' where several players block the view of the ball or other players for the system's cameras. This may occasionally result in the length of check we have seen previously in specific scenarios with VAR checking close offsides.

"The length of certain VAR checks may also remain where decisions need to consider multiple offside checks or other offenses such as fouls or handballs in the attacking possession phase."

Semi-automated offsides were meant to have been introduced in the Premier League last year, but that was delayed.

Friday's FA Cup game between Aston Villa and Cardiff was the first time it was used in English football - and that passed without problem.

It is only being used in seven of the eight FA Cup fifth-round ties, because Championship club Preston do not have the correct technology.

The Premier League said this week: "Following successful live operation in the FA Cup, the Premier League will look to implement the system later this season."

Semi-automated offsides are already used in the Champions League, La Liga and Serie A - and were used in the 2022 World Cup.

Each Premier League ground has had up to 30 new cameras installed, capturing footage at 100 frames per second, twice as fast as regular broadcast cameras.

The cameras track the ball as well as up to 10,000 points on each player - meaning it should see if they were involved earlier in the move too.

The semi-automated offside technology suggests the point at which the ball was kicked and draws offside lines on the second-nearest player on the defending team - as well as the attacking player in question.

It still has to be reviewed by the VAR afterwards to make sure it did not make an effort with the 'kick point' or the parts of the body used for the lines.

Officials would still need to decide whether a player who did not touch the ball was interfering with play, or if a defender's touch needs to be factored in.

Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola said: "Today I was very, very disappointed with the referees. Not just today, but also in the last weeks, because every time we have something happening. Today it was the automated offside not working.

"They told us that they would implement it after the first or second international break. But something has obviously not gone right as it has come later in the season.

"They checked offside. The semi-automated offside was not working so they checked it manually. It was a lengthy, lengthy wait."

On the introduction of the new system, Iraola told BBC's Match of the Day: "We continued pushing and today we have semi-automatic offside.

"It has cost us 30 games to put it [in]. In the first game we need it, it goes against us.

"It doesn't work. They had to draw the lines - seven minutes there waiting. It is definitely not a good sign for everyone involved."

Wolves manager Vitor Pereira said: "It was some problem in the machine. I don't know what happened, but in the end I understand.

"Before, we celebrated the goals, but now it is difficult to celebrate the goals. You must wait and wait and wait to understand if it is a goal or not.

"Football is fairer now because, before, a lot of goals were offside and you saw a lot of goals happen without correct decisions."

Additional reporting by Emlyn Begley