In a highly unusual incident during Tottenham Hotspur’s 2–1 home defeat to Nottingham Forest on April 21, 2025, the VAR system was temporarily suspended due to a fire alarm at Stockley Park, the Premier League’s officiating hub.
The disruption occurred just before halftime, halting VAR operations for approximately eight minutes. This meant that the second half commenced without the assistance of video technology, with referee Peter Bankes and fourth official Tony Harrington managing proceedings without VAR support. Notably, earlier in the match, VAR had intervened to disallow a goal from Forest’s Chris Wood for offside, but later confirmed his legitimate goal in the 16th minute. The temporary suspension did not result in any major officiating controversies during the match.
The Premier League issued a statement confirming the VAR outage, attributing it to the fire alarm at Stockley Park. The system was restored shortly into the second half, and the match proceeded without further incidents. Despite a late goal from Spurs’ Richarlison in the 87th minute, Forest secured the victory, propelling them back into third place in the Premier League standings. Tottenham, on the other hand, remain in 16th place, two points above the relegation zone.
This incident adds to a series of VAR-related disruptions in the Premier League, including a similar occurrence during Manchester United’s match against Ipswich Town in November 2024, where a fire alarm at Stockley Park also led to a temporary suspension of the system.
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