Updated at 17.15

BOURNEMOUTH HAVE NOT ruled out a legal challenge over the failure to award a key goal against their relegation rivals Aston Villa.

The Cherries have been relegated to the Championship after Villa finished the 2019-20 season one point ahead of them.

Villa secured a point in their first game of the restart at home to Sheffield United on 17 June. The Blades had a goal ruled out when Villa goalkeeper Orjan Nyland caught a free-kick and stepped back over the line, carrying the ball with him.

Goal-line technology providers Hawk-Eye issued an apology after the match, saying all seven cameras focused on the goal area had been “occluded” and that it was the first time in over 9,000 matches that its cameras had been obstructed to such an extent that the technology could not detect that a goal had been scored.

Neither the on-pitch referee Michael Oliver nor the VAR manually overturned the goal decision system.

The PA news agency understands the Bournemouth board is likely to discuss this week whether to pursue legal action.

Under the VAR protocols set out by the International Football Association Board, which governs the laws of the game, a match is not invalidated because of a malfunction of goal-line technology or any wrong decisions involving the VAR.

The Premier League declined to comment, while Hawk-Eye has yet to respond to a request for a comment.

Deloitte’s Annual Football Review 2020 found the Cherries had the joint highest wages-to-turnover ratio – 85% – in the Premier League based on 2018-19 accounts.

It reported that the club spent just under £111million on wages out of a £131m total revenue, and lost £32.4m in the period. Over £115m of the club’s total income came direct from the Premier League. 

Originally published at 11.44

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