HOW CAN GAFFE-PRONE ROMANIAN REFEREE EVER BE TRUSTED WITH ANOTHER TOP-LEVEL MATCH?

OVIDIU HATEGAN, the referee in charge of Manchester City’s game with Dortmund, isn’t good enough. In the biggest games, he is prone to rash, impulsive decisions, such as the one that sent Switzerland to the 2018 World Cup. That night in Belfast, Hategan gave a penalty against Corry

Evans of Northern Ireland for flinching in the face of a close-range shot. Evans was powerless to get out of the way, the ball striking his back, shoulder, maybe a tiny bit of upper arm. Hategan’s verdict? Penalty. Switzerland scored and progressed 1-0 over the two-leg play-off.

In Manchester this week, Hategan (right) cancelled a perfectly good Dortmund goal by blowing before the ball was tapped into an empty net, meaning VAR could not intervene when he was found to be mistaken. Fortunately, justice had been done earlier when Rodri fell clutching his

face after a supposed high boot from Emre Can, and Hategan gave a penalty. Replays showed the contact was nearer Rodri’s knees than his nose, and the decision was overturned. Completing a calamitous night, one of Hategan’s assistants, Octavian Sovre, was then seen seeking Erling Haaland’s signature after the game. He wanted him to sign his spare red and yellow cards. It was for charity but still inappropriate, in full view of the other players. There is a suggestion

UEFA’s refereeing officer Roberto Rosetti will investigate Sovre’s actions but surely there is a wider issue. It was a Romanian officiating team, including Sovre, who were embroiled in a clumsy race controversy when Paris Saint-Germain played Istanbul Basaksehir before Christmas. With two officials, Hategan and Istvan Kovacs, operating at the highest UEFA level, one might imagine Romania was a centre of refereeing excellence. Possibly not.