Report: Bournemouth could launch ‘ghost goal’ compensation legal action

By Joe Prince-WrightJul 28, 2020, 8:55 AM EDT
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It is believed that Bournemouth could launch a compensation claim against Hawk-Eye over the ‘ghost goal’ fiasco as Aston Villa stayed in the Premier League ahead of them by a single point.

In the very first game of ‘Project Restart’ Aston Villa goalkeeper Orjan Nyland carried the ball over his own line and Sheffield United should have been awarded a goal. However, for the first time since its introduction in the Premier League, Hawk-Eye’s Goal Decision System (GDS) didn’t work properly due to players standing in the way of their cameras.

A report from our partners in the UK, Sky Sports, says that Bournemouth’s board will meet later this week to discuss the possible compensation claim against Hawk-Eye.

Here is more information on the current situation regarding a possible Bournemouth compensation claim, and video of the incident in question:

“Hawk-Eye released a statement apologising after a blunder by Aston Villa’s goalkeeper Orjan Nyland, who carried the ball over the line against Sheffield United in the first game back after lockdown, was not detected by their goal-line technology system.

“Referee Michael Oliver received no signal to award a goal and play continued, the game finishing in a goalless draw. After the match, the goal-line technology company apologized, claiming “seven cameras located in the stands around the goal area were significantly occluded by the goalkeeper, defender and goalpost.”

“On Sunday, without that point, Villa would have been relegated on goal difference – and Bournemouth would have survived by a single goal. To date, no lawyers have been instructed. However, the club’s board is scheduled to meet in the next few days, where a decision will be made on their next move.” 

The margins in the Premier League relegation scrap were so tight that this one error could have kept Bournemouth up. It’s true that it was an error, Hawk-Eye admitted it, and it will be interesting to see what kind of claim the Cherries decide to make, if they do at all.

We all know the cost of staying in the Premier League is something along the lines of $200 million, so this mistake from Hawk-Eye could be a very costly one.

On the pitch, Eddie Howe and Bournemouth didn’t do enough to stay up but they will point to that ‘ghost goal’ as being the difference. Who knows if Aston Villa would have roared back and drawn that game 1-1 or won 2-1 had the GDS worked properly? We will never know.

What we do know is that the GDS mistake ultimately had a big say in the outcome of the relegation battle and we haven’t heard the end of this.