The Premier League has been forced into making an expected change to VAR technology after the system was affected due to the AWS outage wreaking chaos across the globe.
At 11:35 BST (6:35am ET), Amazon said the underlying issue has been ‘fully mitigated’, adding that ‘most operations are succeeding normally now’.
But the company’s Web Services cloud computing service – which powers much of the infrastructure behind many websites – continues to challenge its users into the evening, with West Ham‘s match against Brentford disrupted.
Rather than having access to VAR systems as normal, one recent innovation is not working, with the Premier League forced to share a statement ahead of kick-off.
‘Due to the impact of today’s global AWS outage, this evening’s match will begin without the use of Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT),’ the statement read.
‘If required, the VAR will use virtual offside lines, as in previous seasons, to determine an offside decision. If SAOT becomes available during the game, it will be implemented when appropriate.’
The Premier League were forced to abandon semi-automated offside technology due to the earlier AWS outage
Fans were shown the more recognisable red and green lines used by the VAR officials to deem whether the strike should be disallowed
The more traditional usage of offside lines was quickly forced into effect moments before the half-time whistle when Brentford thought they had doubled their lead.
Officials were instead made to manually review Igor Thiago’s strike, only to chalk it off for offside.
They are unlikely to have found doing so too challenging – semi-automated offside technology was only introduced to the Premier League last season, in matchweek 32.
The technology had previously been in use in other international competitions, making its major debut at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Just over 10 minutes into the second-half, the technology was confirmed by the Premier League to have been restored.
Brentford had pulled ahead in their London derby in the 43rd minute, again courtesy of Thiago.
The Brazilian, who is his club’s top scorer in the competition, had his shot given a helping hand by Hammers ‘keeper Alphonse Areola.
West Ham are still hunting for their first win under new manager Nuno Espirito Santo, who was appointed on the heels of the sacking of Graham Potter at the end of September.
Nuno himself was an earlier managerial casualty this season, despatched earlier in September at Nottingham Forest – who have since replaced his replacement, Ange Postecoglou, after a meagre tenure of 39 days.
