A fire alarm at Stockley Park meant there was no VAR for around five minutes of Manchester United’s match at Ipswich in the Premier League.
Referee Anthony Taylor called captains Bruno Fernandes and Sam Morsy together to explain the situation towards the end of the first half, with the on-field officials assuming full control of the match during the outage.
Stockley Park is where the Premier League’s operational hub is based – with video assistant referees overseeing the decision-making process remotely.
The outage lasted around five minutes – during which Ipswich equalised through a stunning long-range Omari Hutchinson goal.
Fortunately for PGMOL, there was nothing contentious about Ipswich’s equaliser – sparing the referees’ body another embarrassing moment after a difficult season for officials.
A statement from the Premier League Match Centre said during the first half: “The match will be operating without VAR until further notice due to a fire alarm at the VAR Hub at Stockley Park.”
The Match Centre confirmed VAR was back up and running shortly afterward.