Octavian Sovre has been temporarily banned from officiating in Romania. He was captured on camera in the tunnel after the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final for getting his red and yellow cards signed by Dortmund sensation Haaland.
The incident was captured after Manchester City’s Champions League win over Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday.
The assistant referee is now hit with a suspension over the incident despite reports in Romania claiming that Sovre has collected signatures from top footballers for the last five years to help raise funds for an autism centre, Daily Mail Online reports.
“The Romanian Refs’ Committee decided to stop assistant ref Sovre from refereeing for the time being. He will not be part of Hategan’s officiating team on the last round of the regular season in the Romanian first tier” Emmanuel Rosu posted on his twitter handle.
The decision was made after UEFA’s chief refereeing officer Roberto Rosetti had written to refereeing teams, warning that requesting autographs from players was ‘unacceptable’.
This is not the first time Sovre has been caught up in controversy, having been investigated by UEFA earlier this season for general misconduct for his actions in February’s Champions League between Istanbul Basaksehir and Paris Saint-Germain.