Former Premier League referee Keith Hackett said players are “exposed to injury” by delaying an offside flag.

“With the introduction of VAR came the process of assistant referees delaying the flag to indicate offside until the outcome – either a goal or possession of the ball by the defence,” he told Radio 5 Live.

“This is to ensure where the assistant referee makes an error on an offside decision, it doesn’t impact on the goal being ruled out incorrectly. Sadly, this practice does expose the risk to players of injury.”

Awoniyi’s injury is the most severe incident since the new application of the law was introduced.

In March 2021 Wolves goalkeeper Rui Patricio was carried off on a stretcher following 15 minutes of on-field treatment after he collided with team-mate Conor Coady against Liverpool.

Patricio took a blow to the head as he and Coady attempted to stop Mohamed Salah from scoring. The flag was raised for offside after Salah scored.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said: “It was an awful situation. It was a proper shock.”

In December 2023 Manchester City defender John Stones was sidelined for a month after injuring an ankle in a collision with Everton’s Beto.

Three weeks later City goalkeeper Ederson was substituted after colliding with Newcastle’s Sean Longstaff. He was sidelined for two weeks.

Following the injury to Ederson, City captain Rodri said: “We have an injury because of this situation we are trying to fix in the last years. It is ridiculous.

“There are lots of injuries in this situation. So we have to check if it’s the best option to follow the game.”