Controversial NI referee facing World Cup snub

Matt Morley 6 years ago 320
Hategan has been left off the list for a FIFA seminar. EFE/Archivo

The referee who awarded the controversial penalty that ultimately ended Northern Ireland's hopes of qualifying for the World Cup has been dropped from FIFA's pool of match officials preparing for the tournament.

Michael O'Neill's side were defeated 1-0 on aggregate in their World Cup play-off against Switzerland due to an incorrectly awarded penalty in the first leg.

Lvidiu Hategan of Romania was the man who penalised Corry Evans for handball in Belfast, despite their being next to no appeals from the Swiss, with replays later showing that the ball had hit Evans on the back.

However, it appears that some sort of justice will be done, after FIFA left Hategan off a list of 36 referees to attend a World Cup preparation seminar from November 25 to 29 in Abu Dhabi.

The list is not definitive though, with FIFA not due to make their final refereeing selections for the tournament until January.

The Romanian is the only one of the eight referees entrusted with World Cup play-off matches to have not been included in the list, which also does not contain any Brits.

Mentioned in the news story

Irlanda del Norte
WC Play-Offs
World Cup