ProRef Admits VAR Error Over Haaland's Winner
ProRef conceded an 'error of judgement' after Erling Haaland's offside goal for Manchester City against Manchester United was wrongly allowed to stand by VAR.
Manchester City's winner at Old Trafford on Sunday has forced ProRef, the body that runs refereeing for the Premier League, to admit an "error of judgement" over the goal that beat Manchester United.
Michael Oliver, the referee on the pitch, first ruled out Erling Haaland's goal for offside. Patrick Dorgu's foot was in fact playing Haaland onside, and VAR official Matt Donohue overturned the decision.
ProRef has committed to a review of the incident. The Premier League does not use a single technology supplier for VAR, unlike the World Cup or the Champions League. Genius Sports runs the semi-automated offside system, while Hawk-Eye covers goal-line technology and supplies the operator who sits beside the VAR official at Stockley Park, pulling up the angles reviewed before a decision is reached. The Genius Sports staff member works from a separate room in the same hub, in radio contact with the VAR.
Sunday's mistake is likely to sharpen the question of whether running two suppliers side by side, rather than one integrated system, leaves more room for the kind of error that decided a fixture between the league's two Manchester clubs.
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