Fans rejoice as ‘fire alarm goes off at Stockley Park VAR headquarters moments before Wolves and Burnley kick-off’, with Gary Lineker jokingly blaming David Moyes and Danny Murphy calling it ‘phenomenal news’
- Gary Lineker revealed on the BBC the fire alarm at the VAR hub had gone off
- The control centre in West London is now understood to be back up and running
- West Ham boss Moyes was angry after Fabian Balbuena’s controversial red card
- VAR was also criticised after Callum Wilson’s disallowed goal against Liverpool
Stockley Park was hit by a fire alarm going off moments before the Premier League match between Wolves and Burnley on Sunday.
Gary Lineker revealed on the BBC just before kick-off at midday that an alarm went off at the VAR hub in West London and questioned whether the controversial technology would be available in the early stages of the game.
However, it is understood everything is back to normal with VAR used to disallow a Matej Vydra goal for offside and fully operational ahead of Sunday afternoon’s Carabao Cup final between Manchester City and Tottenham.
A fire alarm reportedly went off at Stockley Park shortly before Wolves and Burnley kicked off
However, the technology at the VAR headquarters is now understood to be fully operational
Lineker said: ‘Apparently I’m hearing the fire alarm has gone off at Stockley Park, so VAR – we don’t know yet – might not be in operation, certainly in the first few minutes.’
The Match of the Day presenter then joked: ‘Rumours that David Moyes was seen outside with a box of matches are grossly exaggerated at this stage!’
Fellow pundit Danny Murphy added: ‘That’s not good news, that’s phenomenal news’, about the prospect of a match without VAR.
West Ham manager Moyes was annoyed with the VAR-assisted decision to send off defender Fabian Balbuena in a 1-0 defeat against Chelsea on Saturday.
Centre half Balbuena cleared the ball, before his boot caught Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell – seemingly accidentally – on the follow through.
Referee Chris Kavanagh checked the pitchside monitor, and after watching several slow-motion replays, showed the Paraguayan a straight red card, to Moyes’ disgust.
One fan jokingly photoshopped a picture of Moyes smiling onto a picture of a burning building
Lineker and former Arsenal striker Ian Wright also criticised the decision after the match.
One fan posted a photoshopped picture of Moyes smiling in front of a burning building, while Paddy Power tweeted criticising VAR.
Their post read: ‘Some reports suggest it’s simply a fire alarm, others say it’s the ‘Are we completely ruining the sport of football’ siren. More to follow.’