PRO releases statement on Union vs. Montreal match

If you were confused at the end of the Philadelphia Union’s match at CF Montreal, PRO has an answer.

The Professional Organization of Referees (PRO) released a statement on Chinoso Offor’s game-tying goal, which prompted two video assistant reviews.

After Offor scored his goal over Jakob Glesnes and Joe Bendik, referee Nima Saghafi went to the monitor to check for offsides.  “Upon checking the goal, at the moment that ball was last played by a teammate, it appeared to the video match officials that Offor was in an offside position,” PRO’s statement said.

However, the official review failed to show all angles of Montreal’s attempt, in which Kai Wagner kept Offor from being offside.

“Following the review and before the play was restarted, the video match officials viewed new video footage with a wider camera angle and were able to see Wagner close to the goal line, keeping Offor onside. The VAR immediately communicated to the referee to delay the restart, and the referee blew his whistle before the ball was put into play,” the statement said. “The referee went to the Referee Review Area to look at the incident again, saw Wagner keeping Offor in an onside position, and correctly awarded the goal.”

Offor’s goal set the pace for the rest of the match, which Montreal would go on to win 3-2 after Romelo Quioto scored his second goal of the match in the 98th minute.