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The head of the English refereeing body appeared on a broadcast to explain the circumstances and apologize for the controversial wrong decision regarding the game-winning onside goal in the Manchester derby last weekend.
According to Reuters, Howard Webb, Chief Refereeing Officer of Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), appeared on sports broadcaster Sky Sports on the 15th (local time) and explained that the mistake occurred because the VAR official fell into "tunnel vision."
Tunnel vision is a medical term meaning that a person's field of vision becomes so narrow, due to being excessively focused on what is right in front of them, that they fail to look around their surroundings.
Manchester City's Erling Haaland scored the winning goal in the 15th minute of the second half during the match against Manchester United held at Old Trafford.
Haaland finished off a low cross sent from the left by Josko Gvardiol at the far post.
The referee initially declared offside, but after a video assistant referee (VAR) review, overturned it to onside and awarded the goal, leading Manchester City to a 1-0 victory over Manchester United.
However, Manchester City's Enzo Fernandez, who was positioned between Manchester United's Lisandro Martinez—who was marking Haaland—and the goal, was in a clear offside position.
After the match, PGMOL acknowledged the wrong decision, stating, "The VAR official failed to recognize the possibility that Fernandez's position influenced the goal."
According to Webb, the mistake happened because VAR official Matt Donohue was so engrossed in determining whether Fernandez made a header that he failed to check Fernandez's position during Haaland's subsequent shot.
Prior to Haaland's shot, Fernandez attempted a header from Gvardiol's cross, and if the ball had made contact with Fernandez's head, that alone would have constituted an offside.
The PGMOL investigation revealed that not only referee Donohue, but also other officials in the VAR room, were exclusively focused on that specific sequence.
Subsequently, no one in the VAR room considered the fact that Fernandez was in an offside position affecting Martinez's defensive play during Haaland's shot.
Webb stated, "Donohue fell into tunnel vision. It's up to the rest of the team to pull him out of that narrow focus, but unfortunately, that didn't happen this time."
He added, "This goal should have been disallowed, but very regrettably, that did not happen," and stated, "We will review this matter again, reflect on it, and ensure that this rare type of error does not happen again."
(Photo: Getty Images)
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