Former Rangers striker and Sky Sports pundit Ally McCoist has expressed heartfelt support for Nottingham Forest forward Taiwo Awoniyi following the Nigerian international’s serious abdominal injury during Forest’s 2–2 draw with Leicester City. Speaking on Thursday, McCoist urged football’s governing bodies to amend offside protocols to prevent similar incidents and emphasized that player welfare must take precedence.
McCoist began by offering his best wishes to Awoniyi, describing the striker’s health as the top priority.
“Accidents can happen, mate, they can happen,” McCoist said. “Now the most important thing by a hundred miles is the player’s welfare, so fingers crossed the big fella can get himself squared up and get out there very, very soon.”
Awoniyi required urgent abdominal surgery after colliding with a goalpost in the 84th minute, an incident that initially went unflagged for offside before VAR intervened. He was taken to hospital immediately following the match against Leicester City and underwent successful surgery.
The injury has reignited debate over the VAR-driven approach to offside decisions. Under IFAB guidelines introduced before the 2018 World Cup, assistant referees are instructed to delay flagging offside in potential goal-scoring situations unless they are certain—often requiring the play to conclude before a decision is made. Critics argue this rigid system sacrifices player safety for technical precision.
A recent analysis in The Guardian highlighted that Awoniyi’s collision stemmed directly from a delayed offside call, as he chased a cross by Anthony Elanga—who was clearly offside—leading to the dangerous recovery sprint that ended in injury. The article calls for a rethink of the “flawed offside protocol,” stressing that “frequent delayed calls lead to unnecessary physical strain and injuries”.
McCoist echoed these concerns, insisting that referees should flag “blatantly obvious” offside positions immediately:
“I’ve long been saying it: I ball over the top, somebody’s two yards offside … there’s going to be a collision. I put the flag up. If it’s blatantly obvious, do your job and get the flag up,” he argued.
Despite the uproar, football’s rule-makers have so far defended the status quo. The Times reports that FIFA and IFAB officials “do not plan to amend the current VAR protocol regarding delayed offside flags,” noting that the system aims to “prioritize goal validation and minimize errors in disallowing legitimate goals”. A senior source added that on-pitch decisions can be more challenging than they appear on television, and the fear of wrongly disallowing a goal carries significant repercussions for match officials.
As the debate rages on, McCoist and other former professionals believe that giving assistant referees greater discretion could prevent future injuries without undermining the integrity of the offside rule. For the time being, however, Awoniyi’s recovery remains the focus.
“I know they’re only doing as they’re told, but if you’re a yard and a half offside, get the flag up,” McCoist concluded, underlining that player safety should never be secondary to technical protocols.
Awoniyi’s condition is reportedly stable, and Nottingham Forest will provide further updates on his recovery in the coming days.
