Referees do get a lot of stick whenever they seem to lack personality, but then as soon as they show a human side it’s easy for them to get slaughtered in the press as well.
There has been plenty of talk about the assistant referee getting Erling Haaland’s signature after the Man City Dortmund game last night, while his professionalism was called into question by many.
How could he remain impartial and be trusted if he was clearly in awe of a player to this degree, but the real reason has come out and it’s actually a wonderfully heart-warming thing:
Have spoken to Romanian FA about the match officials/Haaland autograph. They say Octavian Sovre did it to raise funds for an autism centre he helps with. More info on @SkySportsNews
— Paul Gilmour (@skysportspaulg) April 7, 2021
Presuming the explanation is genuine, then he’s just using his position to help the charity and it’s great to see that Haaland was willing to help out too.
In a strange way the publicity surrounding this will also do more to raise awareness for the cause and hopefully it helps to generate even more money for the charity, so perhaps it does have a nice ending after all.