[5][6][7] In 2013, UEFA president Michel Platini ordered an internal investigation to ascertain why Hațegan 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.

[12] 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 1–0 on aggregate, earning qualification to the World Cup.

Hațegan 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.

[19][20] 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.