The EFL has requested a 'full explanation' from Twitter after a technical glitch caused a 105-minute delay to the Carabao Cup quarter-final draw on Thursday. The draw, hosted by former England rugby star Matt Dawson and ex-cricketer Phil Tufnell, was scheduled for a live stream at 4pm from Twitter's London headquarters but was postponed due to a faulty encoder.
Fans endured a series of delays and confusing updates, with the draw eventually taking place at 5.45pm via a pre-recorded video. Presenter Sam Matterface apologised for the delay, saying: 'Apologies for being late, we know you've been waiting around for quite some time. Thanks for sticking with us – we will get it right, I promise you.'
The draw itself proceeded without incident, pairing Chelsea with Bournemouth, Arsenal against West Ham, Leicester versus Manchester City, and Bristol City facing Manchester United. However, the pre-recorded nature of the broadcast raised eyebrows among conspiracy theorists, as the four biggest teams were kept apart.
The EFL issued a statement apologising for 'third party technical issues' and confirmed it had received an apology from Twitter UK. A Twitter spokesman said: 'We're sorry for the issues that led to the delay of today's draw. We would also like to apologise to the thousands of supporters who had been patiently awaiting news.'
This is not the first Carabao Cup draw to encounter problems; the first round saw Charlton paired with both Exeter and Cheltenham, and the third round was held in Beijing at 4.15am UK time.
