VAR blunder? That was no blunder, it was a blatant decision to deny Celtic a legitimate goal, but will the club take any action?
Eric Knott 
Paul Devlin - SNS Group/SNS Group/Getty Images
So, the SFA’s Key Match Incident panel have “overwhelmingly determined” that Daizen Maeda’s equalising goal for Celtic in the 2-1 loss to Hibs should have been allowed to stand.
The fact that they have determined it should have been a goal leaves more questions than answers.
We discussed this decision on our podcast last Sunday evening, and to be honest the fact that the KMI panel said it should have stood is staggering.
It’s staggering because the decision making process that was used at the time to disallow the Celtic goal was illegitimate.
For the following key reasons:
It is not the VAR’s job to overrule both the linesman and the referee’s decision, both had ruled that it was a goal.
The VAR is the Video Assistant Referee, but in Scotland it appears he is the VR, Video Referee, and the men on the pitch are HIS assistants.
Alan Muir’s intervention was illegitimate because he did not have the technology on hand to fully determine the ball had fully crossed the line.
Therefore, by default, the Referee and the linesman’s decision to award the goal should have been the determining factor in all of this, as they were best placed to make that call.
Alan Muir did not have access to Hawkeye technology, so he could not clearly see whether the ball fully crossed the line or not.
All of the above factors point to one thing.
Muir took it upon him self to disallow the second goal because he wanted to disallow it.
If Muir has nothing to hide in all of this, then the SFA should release the audio of the incident to Celtic to clarify the thought process behind his decision.
In fact, they should have no issue whatsoever with releasing it.
Celtic should also seek clarification on who has the final say when it comes to decision making like disallowing a goal.
For example, when a serious foul has occurred, the VAR calls the referee to the monitor to make the final call on whether he thinks it was a red card offense or not.
The final decision lies with the on-field referee.
Which would lead you to believe that he is the one in-charge.
The same applies when the VAR sees a possible penalty, the final decision lies with the on-field referee.
We saw this, to our detriment at Celtic Park against Bayern Munich, when the on-field referee decided that Dayot Upamecano’s foul on Arne Engels was not a foul after all.
Therefore, if Alan Muir thought the ball was out of play, should he not have called the on-field referee, Steven McLean, to view the same footage he was looking at?
However limited it was?
McLean then could have said that he could not make a definite call based on the footage he could see, so he was going with his original on-field call, and allowing the goal to stand.
Why did that not happen?
Why did McLean just accept Muir’s decision when the final call should lie with him?
These are the questions Celtic should be asking, and demanding answers to.
Because today, the fact that the KMI panel determined that Celtic’s second goal should have stood, well, like I said, it presents more questions than answers.
The main one being Muir’s decision to take it upon himself to disallow what has now been proven to be a perfectly legitimate goal.
I’m sure Celtic will be demanding answers to all of these questions.
Because that was no blunder.
But I think we all know that.
Don’t we?
The VAR decided to disallow a goal with no evidence and did not even ask the Referee to view the incident! Clearly and unambiguously corrupt!!
Only in Scotland! Wha’s like us eh? 👍😁
And where is the complaint from the offended Club? Where is the CEO? At the back of the bus or just CBA?
And the Manager tells us he hasn’t spoken to anyone at the club…… ? 🤔
Same auld SFA. Should sack all those referees and VAR assistants. There is nothing wrong with var it’s the
People that are paid full time wages who cannot use technology properly . Time for change get all those frauds out of there
Nobody wants the club to behave like tgat lot but we need to kick up a stink sometimes imo
Celtic plc will do or say nothing . They are part of the problem . They must have a hold over them .
Sfa operation stop celtic at any cost it’s in your face and we get called paranoid hh I dint think so
Dougie Dougie , comes to mind, we got shot of that crook on that occasion, said it was blatant at the time, it was to deny celtic an equaliser hoping sevco could reduce the deficit on the Sunday, but we all know how that went, it’s an open goal for celtic to take Muir’s scalp if they want to. And prove Nicholson’s not just an empty suit
He has informed the referee that he has a definitive view, that it was out, so the referee will believe him without questioning it……
He lied and should be sacked.
HH
We all know why they disallowed that goal ans all the other shite decisions,Tynecastle was the worst I’ve ever seen last season,what happens, Rodgers gets into trouble for calling it out,blatant cheating,where is our CEO,Nicholson etc
Celtic board will do f… all because they are shit bags and scared of the sfa if you watch rangers they all surround the ref when there is a call to go to var to intimadate him
What do we really expect from this bunch of so called officials with an hidden agenda. In spite of several dubious decisions Celtic are still motoring to yet another title. It’s time for Mr Collum to give his opinion on yet another anti Celtic horrendous decision
Muir McLean should never ref a game again they should be removed from taking games in the top flight they are affecting the sporting integrity of the SPFL. This would stop refs like these trying to in influence the result of games to suit their own agenda
The elephant in the room? The Celtic hierarchy that never take an issue forward.
We don’t need the point the league is over 55 now for 56 we won’t miss that point
And the penalty St Mirren didnt get at 3 -2 today ???
We shoukd withhold payment for this shambles, as number 1 club we pay more than anyone else.
Or tgere shoukd be a compensation rate for every “honest mistake”
Hit the SFA in the pocket
Maybe that will improve decisions
Give ref microphones like TMO in rugby so we can gear the discussion while the review goes on, then maybe everyone will see transparency
On top of the “mistakes” of var where do all these added on minutes at the end of some matches come from.
I think it’s to help their favourite team who need to score to try to keep them in the title race.
It’s time to adopt the way rugby union is run and that’s stopping the clock when deemed necessary and when the clock hits 80 minutes, 90 in football terms then the match is over.
Then theres no dubiety but some refs in this country would let them play until their pet team scores if they could get away with it.