According to The Daily Telegraph, Matthew Donohoe was the VAR official in the match where Manchester United lost to their local rivals Manchester City 0-1. Coincidentally, in March of this year he served as fourth official, and H. Maguire angrily called him a "bloody joke".

Video Assistant Referee Donohoe, who mistakenly disallowed Haaland's winning goal in the Manchester derby, has now found himself at the centre of a new scandal involving Manchester United.

Following Manchester City's 1-0 victory over Manchester United, Professional Game Match Officials Limited's chief refereeing officer Howard Webb acknowledged that Matthew Donohoe made a "clear factual error" in officiating the match at Old Trafford, and Manchester United received an official apology on Sunday.

Donohoe was also the fourth official when Manchester United drew 2-2 with Bournemouth in March. Then, after his dismissal, H. Maguire reportedly told him that he and his colleagues were a "bloody joke".

H. Maguire received an automatic one-match ban for the red card, then received an additional one-match suspension because Donohoe reported to the Independent Regulatory Commission that H. Maguire used abusive and/or profane language.

At the Vitality Stadium, Manchester United were leading 2-1 when referee Stuart Attwell awarded a penalty against Bournemouth and sent off H. Maguire, ruling that he had fouled Evanilson in the penalty area.

In the full written reasons for H. Maguire's additional ban, published by the Football Association, Donohoe stated that H. Maguire approached him as he was leaving the pitch and "shouted: 'You're a joke. You're all a bloody joke'". H. Maguire denied in a written statement that these words were directed at Donohoe or any other match official present. However, Donohoe insisted he heard H. Maguire say "you're all a bloody joke" "clearly and distinctly", and recalled: "At that moment I understood the comments were directed at the entire group of match officials".

H. Maguire stated he was "extremely upset" following the penalty award and dismissal after a previous unpunalised incident. However, in his evidence he acknowledged his actions were inappropriate and apologised for what he said. The Commission noted that this, combined with his consistently good disciplinary record, helped him avoid further bans and higher fines.

Having become a professional referee seven years ago, Donohoe has primarily officiated English Football League matches and has been a regular referee in the Championship this season. According to transfermarkt.com, he has refereed just five Premier League matches in total, three of which were in the previous season. Over the past two years he has been actively used for VAR duties, operating as VAR 49 times during that period.

Sunday's match was Donohoe's first Manchester derby as an official and his biggest match to date.

Before becoming a full-time referee, Donohoe taught at Gorsey Hill Primary School in Manchester, where he oversaw the development of the school's PE department while also refereeing matches in the National League South and National League North divisions. Three years ago, Gorsey Hill was brought into Manchester City's Premier League Primary Stars programme as a beneficiary school. Donohoe left his school position before moving to football refereeing full-time to avoid any potential conflicts of interest.

Donohoe's error raised questions about Professional Game Match Officials Limited's (PGMOL) policy of deploying VAR officials with limited top-flight refereeing experience.

In February 2024, then Premier League Director of Football Tony Scholes stated that a new scheme had been launched to identify future specialist VAR referees in the lower leagues. He said: "PGMOL is looking for referees who may be refereeing in the Football League or National League, and who have been identified as having the qualities to be good VARs. They will be trained with the aim of building a pool of specialist VARs to complement, not replace, the current elite referees who can operate as both VAR and on-pitch referees".

On Monday, Donohoe may learn whether he has been stood down from VAR duties this weekend.

Переведено ИИ.

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