Nottingham Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi in induced coma after injury that could have been prevented by referees

Nigerian footballer Taiwo Awoniyi, forward at Nottingham Forest, suffered a serious injury in a match last Sunday, a 2-2 draw against Leicester City. He collided with the goalpost in the 88th minute, fell to the ground in pain, but after some medical treatment he continued to play the remaining ten minutes of the match.

However, he later had to be taken to the hospital, and had to be induced in a coma after the surgery, as reported by BBC. An official statement from Nottingham Forest said that Awoniyi was "recovering well so far", and referred about the controversy that unfolded that Sunday afternoon at City Ground.

In short, the club owner came onto the field to complain that the medical team and referees allowed the 27-year-old Nigerian to continue playing despite the risk of internal injuries after such a blow... but the media and commentators thought he meant other things.

Nottingham Forest asks to "resist the urge to rush to judgment and fake news" after controversy with club owner

Evangelos Marinakis, Forest owner, came to the pitch to talk to Forest manager Nuno Espírito Santo, in what many outlets at the time thought to be "reprimand" towards the manager because of the result. However, it was not about the result, and it was not a "confrontation", as the club vehemently denied in a lengthy statement.

Instead, it was a conversation about "shared frustration between all of us that the medical team should never have allowed the player to continue".

After a lot of criticism was poured towards Marinakis, including Manchester United legend and pundit Gary Neville describing his actions as "scandalous" at BBC, Forest urged "former coaches and players, and other public figures in the game, to resist the urge to rush to judgement and fake news online, especially when they do not have the full facts and context", and defended Marinakis, describing his reaction as "one of deep care, responsibility, and emotional investment in one of our own".

Taiwo Awoniyi's injury happened in a clear offside play: it could have been avoided

But controversy did not stop there, as many are pointing out that Awoniyi's serious injury could have been avoided if referees had stopped the game: the play happened with goal opportunity from Anthony Elanga, who was very clearly offside. Instead of linesmen raising the flag at the moment, officials allowed the play to be carried until the end, including the collision, and then immediately raised the flag.

This is a common practice since VAR was established: in case of doubt, allow the play to continue and then check VAR if necessary. However, many people complain that this practice needlessly endangers players.