Nigeria and Nottingham Forest forward, Taiwo Awoniyi is recovering in hospital after undergoing major surgery for a ruptured intestine, an injury his teammate, Ola Aina, believes could have been avoided if the assistant referee had raised the offside flag earlier.
The 27-year-old Nigerian striker collided with the post late in Sunday’s 2-2 Premier League draw against Leicester City while chasing a cross from Anthony Elanga, who was later deemed to be offside. Under the current Premier League protocol introduced in 2020, assistant referees are instructed to delay raising their flags during potential goalscoring opportunities until the play concludes.
“Anthony was miles offside, the whole world could see that,” Aina told the Daily Mail. “You think ‘offside’ straight away. Surely you could just lift the flag up? None of this would have happened to ‘T’ if the flag had just gone up, would it?”
Following the incident, Awoniyi initially received treatment on the pitch and signaled he was fit to continue, but it soon became evident that his condition had worsened. Forest manager, Nuno Espirito Santo had already used all his substitutions, leaving Awoniyi on the field briefly before he was taken to hospital the following day.
He underwent emergency surgery in two stages, the first on Monday and the second on Wednesday, when he was also brought out of an induced coma. According to BBC Sport, Awoniyi had suffered a ruptured intestine, a rare and potentially life-threatening condition.
Medical experts say such injuries are difficult to detect immediately. Consultant colorectal surgeon, Prof. Gillian Tierney described it as “potentially life-threatening,” adding: “It is very easy to miss at the point of contact and can take hours to diagnose.” Vascular surgeon Harpaul Flora also noted that if untreated, the injury could lead to sepsis.
Forest owner, Evangelos Marinakis reportedly confronted Nuno after the match to express concern over how the injury was handled. The club has since launched an internal review and, in a statement on Tuesday, acknowledged “a shared frustration between all of us that the medical team should never have allowed the player to continue.”
The incident has reignited debate over the delayed offside flag rule. Though the law itself hasn’t changed, the guidance by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) in the VAR era encourages officials to keep the flag down during immediate scoring chances — a policy now under renewed scrutiny.
Awoniyi remains in recovery, with his teammates and fans hoping for a full return. “It’s horrible seeing someone you’re close with go through something like this,” Aina said. “I pray everything goes well and we’ll be hearing from him soon.”
