adminFor the third time this season, refereeing technology malfunctioned during Tottenham’s match on Sunday, prompting boos from the crowd and throwing the relegation battle into disarray.
Gary Neville voiced sharp criticism on Sky Sports, saying: “Honestly… what blows my mind is that they’ve had nearly 20 minutes to check it. The fans are right to boo. This just isn’t good enough.”
The second half kicked off late, causing Tottenham’s match to fall out of sync with West Ham’s—both teams are competing for the final spot in next season’s Premier League.
The delay stemmed from communication issues between referee Michael Oliver and assistants Stuart Burt and James Mainwaring. Although the problem was eventually resolved, fans inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium—who had seen their team take a first-half lead through Palhinha—voiced their displeasure.
Neville had already been frustrated back in February, when a six-minute stoppage occurred during the north London derby due to a technical fault in the officials’ communication system. The game was halted just seven minutes in, as referee Peter Bankes explained the situation to players.
At the time, Neville said: “The game can’t be stopped for two minutes just because a linesman can’t talk to the referee. We did 100 years without it—so just play on. Now the whole crowd is waiting because of an IT issue.”
A few minutes later, he added: “This is absolute nonsense. One of the biggest games of the season, a fantastic, fast start—and now we’ve lost two or three minutes. They’ll have to warm up again, reset. It’s a complete shambles. If they lack the common sense, authority, or leadership to read the room… 62,000 in the stadium, millions watching at home—do they really think this is so important? Just raise your flag. If you need to make a call, go and talk to him.”
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