Super Eagles and Nottingham Forest fullback Ola Aina has criticized assistant referee Sian Massey-Ellis for failing to flag Anthony Elanga offside in the build-up to an incident that left striker Taiwo Awoniyi with a serious abdominal injury.
Awoniyi sustained the injury during Forest’s 2-2 draw with Leicester City on Sunday after crashing into the post while attempting to connect with a cross from Elanga, who appeared to be clearly offside.
Despite the obvious nature of the position, Massey-Ellis delayed raising her flag, adhering to modern officiating protocol to wait until the end of the attacking phase.
The collision resulted in a ruptured intestine for Awoniyi, who required emergency surgery and was placed in an induced coma to aid recovery.
Reports indicate the Nigerian forward came out of the coma on Wednesday night and is recovering well following another round of surgery.
Speaking to Daily Mail, Aina expressed frustration and heartbreak over the incident.
“This is our team-mate and brother and someone we spend most of the year with. It affects everybody in some sort of way. All we can do is show our support and hopefully everything goes well for him now,” he told the English newspaper.
‘‘It’s horrible seeing someone you are close with go through something like this but I pray to God everything goes to plan and goes well and that we will be hearing from him soon. I have sent him messages. We all have.’’
Aina also questioned the officiating decision directly, lamenting the consequences of delaying offside calls.
“Anthony was miles offside,’’ said the Forest right-back. ‘‘The whole world could see and so could I from where I was.”
“You think ‘offside’ straight away. Surely you could just lift the flag up?
‘”Personally I liked how it was back in the day when for offside they just put it up straight away.
‘”A simple decision and get on with the game.
Having to see it out and then just see this happen….well none of this would have happened to ‘T’ if the flag had just gone up would it?”
Aina has been one of Forest’s most consistent performers this season, contributing defensively and offensively with two goals and one assist.
He, alongside the rest of the squad, now rallies behind Awoniyi, whose recovery remains the team’s priority as they continue their quest to secure a spot in the UEFA Champions League.
