Overview
- In the Manchester derby on Sunday the VAR team failed to identify that Enzo Fernandez was in an offside position and interfering with play, which meant Erling Haaland’s winning goal was incorrectly allowed.
- Pro Ref publicly called the decision an “error of judgement,” played the VAR audio on Match Officials Mic'd Up and told Manchester United it had acknowledged the mistake.
- Howard Webb said the audio showed the VAR had “tunnel vision,” becoming narrowly focused on whether Haaland was onside and not fully assessing Fernandez’s impact on Lisandro Martinez and the goalkeeper.
- VAR referee Matt Donohue and assistant Blake Antrobus have been stood down from Premier League appointments until after the international break while Pro Ref carries out an internal review.
- The episode has reignited calls for faster VAR transparency and procedural reform, with debates focused on sharing audio sooner, clearer checks of ‘interference’ under the offside law and ideas to add former players or coaches to VAR decision teams.