Ovidiu Alin HaÃÂegan (; born 14 July 1980) is a Romanian professional football referee who officiates primarily in the Liga I and for FIFA as a FIFA international referee. He is ranked as a UEFA elite category referee.
Born in Arad, HaÃÂegan became a FIFA referee in 2008. He went to referee at both the UEFA Euro 2012 and 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaigns.
In 2013, UEFA president Michel Platini ordered an internal investigation to ascertain why HaÃÂegan did not apply the protocol for dealing with allegedly racist chants from the crowd during a match at the Arena Khimki between Manchester City and PFC CSKA Moscow. CSKA Moscow was later charged with "racist behavior" for the incident, but HaÃÂegan was absolved of blame.
In August 2016, HaÃÂegan refereed in the men's football tournament at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He refereed two matches during this tournament, including the semifinal between Brazil and Honduras.
On 9 November 2017, he was in charge of the first leg of the 2018 World Cup qualification play-off between Northern Ireland and Switzerland. During this match, he awarded a penalty kick to Switzerland after the ball struck the arm of Northern Irish defender Corry Evans, which was tucked closely against his body. Switzerland scored the penalty kick and would go on to defeat Northern Ireland 1âÂÂ0 on aggregate, earning qualification to the World Cup. HaÃÂegan later admitted that he was wrong to award the penalty kick, and that this mistake may have played a part in his exclusion from the roster of match officials for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
On 19 November 2018, after being informed at half-time of the UEFA Nations League fixture between Germany and the Netherlands of the death of his mother, and even though he could have legally been replaced, HaÃÂegan chose to continue officiating until the end of the match, which ended 2âÂÂ2 in Gelsenkirchen and qualified the visiting team to the final four. Visibly distraught, he was consoled after the full whistle by Dutch captain Virgil van Dijk.
HaÃÂegan has refereed at two UEFA European Championships, officiating two group stage games each in the 2016 and 2020 tournaments.
In March 2022, HaÃÂegan suffered a heart attack. Therefore, he was absent from the field for about a year and a half, but officiating matches as VAR both domestically and abroad, with appreciated interventions. Rated with high chances to participate, he missed also the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
HaÃÂegan returned to the field in June 2023, the first official refereed match being after a break of 443 days. The first match in Romanian First League was in July 2023, 494 days away from the last match before the accident. Finally, HaÃÂegan refereed and the first match in European competitions on October 26, 2023 - 588 days since his last European appearance.
HaÃÂegan majored in medicine at the Victor BabeÃÂ University in TimiÃÂoara. He later taught anatomy in English at the Vasile GoldiÃÂ Western University in his hometown.
HaÃÂegan married his wife Nicoleta in 2009, with the couple parenting two children.