Matt Donohue: One of the VAR referees who overturned the decision to award Erling Haaland's goal previously worked at a school involved in Manchester City's "Blue Moon" Foundation program for as long as eight years.
After the match where "the Red Devils" Manchester United, led by English coach Michael Carrick, recently hosted at Old Trafford and lost 0-1 to "the Blue Moon" Manchester City, led by Italian coach Enzo Maresca, despite the visitors playing with only 10 men from the middle of the first half.
Many believe Haaland's goal should not have stood because video evidence clearly showed Enzo Fernandez in an offside position and attempting to play the ball before it reached Haaland. However, the VAR team ruled there was no attempt to play the ball and allowed the goal.
This led the English Professional Referees Organization to suspend the two VAR officials, Matt Donohue and Blake Antrobus, for their errors. Howard Webb, head of the organization, made the decision himself and will review their return after the international break.
The issue, which seemed to have cooled, reignited when it was revealed that Matt Donohue, one of the two VAR officials in the Manchester Derby, had worked as a teacher at Gresswell Primary School in Denton for eight years before becoming a full-time referee in 2019, quickly advancing to officiate in the Premier League.
Interestingly, the school where he worked was part of the Premier League Primary Stars (PLPS) program, aimed at children aged 5-11 in Greater Manchester, run by City in the Community (CITC), the foundation of Manchester City. The school had won competitions at the school level and even competed at Elland Road stadium.
Although Matt Donohue’s past employment at the school is not evidence of any formal link between him and Manchester City, this information has raised doubts and questions about whether it was appropriate to appoint someone with any connection to the rival club for such a match.