Questions over the reliability of goalline technology are being raised in France after an apparent failure in the system in a Ligue 1 game on Saturday.
The top-flight encounter between Toulouse and Bastia was goalless when, after 17 minutes, Toulouse goalkeeper Alban Lafont made a reflex save on his goalline from the visitors' Prince Oniangue.
Though the ball did not appear to have crossed the line, Bastia hoped to confirm that with the goalline technology images. But none were able to be shown on TV or on the giant screens inside the stadium.
"After talking to the TV production crew, we got confirmation the goalline technology cameras didn't work," a Bastia spokesman told L'Equipe. "We're not saying the goal was good. We're saying we can't know."
Whenever there is an incident near the goalline, the seven cameras in each goal, provided and run by the company Goalcontrol since they were introduced last season, record it.
L'Equipe claimed this particular incident was not recorded, meaning the familiar image that clearly shows whether or not the whole of the ball has crossed the goalline could not be produced.
"The cameras worked well," Carlo Murinni, Goalcontrol's Managing Director, countered in L'Equipe. "After each matchday, we collate the data from each game. We still haven't analysed everything, but it is the delivery of the replay to broadcasters that wasn't done. Why? I still don't know the reasons."
Toulouse went on to win the game 4-1 against nine-man Bastia.
Earlier this month, the goalline technology cameras mistook the yellow jersey of Bordeaux goalkeeper Cedric Carrasso for the matchball, wrongly indicating a goal had been scored when the France international himself crossed the goalline.
"There was that hiccup at Bordeaux, but just one since the start of the 2015-16 season in some 630 matches, is tiny," L'Equipe reports French Football League Managing Director Didier Quillot as saying.
"Also, we can explain it perfectly. The goalline technology was set to the colour of the ball. As it happens, it was exactly the same yellow as Cedric Carrasso's shirt. It's quite an incredible story. It won't happen again."
Quillot stated the LFP had contacted Goalcontrol over the incident in Toulouse, but added: "We're not worried at all. What happened does not bring into question the reliability of the system. FIFA carried out tests before the start of the season, and also before the second half of the season. No anomalies were detected."