The Premier League's "Match officials for Matchweek 5" page, published 14 September 2026 and covering all ten fixtures from 18 to 20 September, names Matt Donohue in no role: his name appears zero times across the referee, assistant, fourth official, VAR and assistant VAR lines. BBC Sport reported the same day that the Manchester derby VAR officials had not been given a Premier League game that weekend.
The Matchweek 5 market resolves on the Premier League's Match officials for Matchweek 5 article on premierleague.com, normally published on the Monday or Tuesday before the round, covering the ten fixtures from Friday 18 to Sunday 20 September 2026. It resolves YES if Matt Donohue is listed in no role (referee, assistant referee, fourth official, VAR or assistant VAR) for any of the ten matches, including any amended appointment the Premier League publishes before kick-off; if the page does not appear, BBC Sport and Sky Sports reports of the appointments settle it, and silence on all three by 23:59 BST on 20 September resolves NO.
We found eight times since VAR began in 2019-20 when the Premier League referees' body, now called Pro Ref, publicly admitted a VAR or referee mistake that changed a match, and told the club within two days. For each one we checked whether the official it named was left out of every Premier League game in the next round, as referee, VAR, assistant VAR or fourth official.