FOOTBALL | VAR — stealing the spotlight but not for the right reasons

In a marquee Premier League match in Manchester where the men in the middle must have made the headlines, an official stationed 200 miles away from the venue stole the spotlight — not for his brilliance but for a blunder.

A glaring mistake by the VAR chief, who oversaw the proceedings from London’s Stockley Park, altered the outcome of the ill-tempered derby between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford on Sunday (September 13, 2026). A 10-man City walked back home with a lucky 1-0 triumph, thanks to a ‘helping hand’ from Matt Donohue.

Such erroneous decisions on Key Match Incidents (KMI) are recurring more often than they should. The KMI panel and Pro Ref (refereeing body) have so far admitted that more than 10 mistakes have been committed either on field or at the VAR hub this season.

But bizarrely in some instances — Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker’s foul on Nottingham Forest defender Neco Williams being an example — the committee acknowledged that errors were made on field but justified that they were not “clear and obvious” for the VAR to overturn.

In the case of the match-winning goal scored by Erling Haaland against United, it was the VAR who needlessly intervened after a correct judgement by the onsite officials.

There was no doubt that Enzo Fernandez, standing in an offside position, tried to steer in Josko Gvardiol’s ball before Haaland eventually did, but Donohue felt otherwise.

The Michael Carrick-managed Red Devils have every right to be furious, for the howler has cost them what would have been a point in the bag. While Donohue’s poor show can be brushed aside as a bad day at the office, the league must be bothered by the increasing error count.

With excellent technological support at their fingertips, the referees must simply do better.