History was made during Wednesday's Carabao Cup semi-final between Tottenham and Liverpool, as referee Stuart Attwell announced the video assistant referee (VAR) decision inside the pitch.
It was the first time this had happened in England, with Attwell explaining why Dominic Solanke's late goal for Tottenham was disallowed.
“After review, Dominic Solanke was in an offside position,” he said over the PA system.
However, Tottenham scored a goal through Lucas Bergvall in the 86th minute to win the first leg 1-0.
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou was not enthusiastic about the ad decision, telling Sky Sports: “If people think this ad added anything to the game tonight then I’m sorry…
“It used to be that you would just raise your flag and the game would go on, but anyway.”
The decision to make these announcements is part of an ongoing trial for all League Cup semi-final matches.
As part of this, referees will announce their final decisions after visiting the pitchside VAR screen, or when rulings have been made on factual matters such as accidental handball by a scorer and offside offenses where a striker touches the ball.
Such ads are common in other sports such as rugby union and American football, and the system was also trialled during the 2023 Women's World Cup.
The Premier League said at a meeting last summer that in-game VAR announcements would be put in place at some point this season.
