Nottingham Forest have been rocked by the serious injury to Taiwo Awoniyi on Sunday, with Ola Aina now calling for the Premier League to act in response.
Awoniyi suffered a serious injury against Leicester when he collided with the post, leading to the Nigerian striker being rushed to the hospital.
News on Awoniyi’s status has been drip-fed to Forest fans as the severity of the situation became clearer. Forest released a statement on Awoniyi’s health stating that he had undergone emergency surgery.
After briefly being placed into a medically induced coma, it seems that the surgery has been successful and Awoniyi is recovering, giving space to Aina to reflect on the situation.
Photo by Rob Newell - CameraSport via Getty Images
Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images
Ola Aina calls for offside rule change after Taiwo Awoniyi incident
Alongside the Awoniyi news, Evangelos Marinakis’ on-pitch outburst has continued to grab the headlines, but it’s clear where the Forest squad’s priorities lie.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Aina’s shock at what happened is clear, as well as his desire to see a change to the Premier League rulebook that will prevent such an injury from occurring again.
Aina said: “You think ‘offside’ straight away. Surely you could just lift the flag up? Personally, I liked how it was back in the day when for offside they just put it up straight away.
“A simple decision and get on with the game. Having to see it out and then just see this happen….well none of this would have happened to ‘T’ if the flag had just gone up would it?”
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Aina’s concern for his fellow Nigerian international is clear, and in calling for the rule change, he joins plenty of media personalities who wish to see the Premier League learn from the Awoniyi incident.
Aina also spoke about how the dressing room has been impacted by the events of Sunday, as Nuno Espirito Santo’s side attempts to focus on West Ham while their teammate and friend is in hospital.
Ola Aina speaks on the impact of Taiwo Awoniyi’s injury
The next fixture becomes insignificant in times like this, with Aina expressing how the Forest training ground has been impacted by Awoniyi’s shock situation.
He continued: “This is our team-mate and brother and someone we spend most of the year with. It affects everybody in some sort of way. All we can do is show our support and hopefully everything goes well for him now.
The Club can confirm Taiwo Awoniyi has undergone urgent surgery following an abdominal injury sustained during Sunday’s match against Leicester City.
Everyone at Nottingham Forest sends their best wishes to Taiwo.
The Club will provide further updates when appropriate. pic.twitter.com/0SH82nA4dv
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) May 13, 2025
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“It’s horrible seeing someone you are close with go through something like this but I pray to God everything goes to plan and goes well and that we will be hearing from him soon. I have sent him messages. We all have.”
The news of the successful surgery will have undoubtedly brightened the mood amongst the squad, who will attempt to refocus and give their Champions League hopes a final chance by beating West Ham on Sunday.