Even Bobby Madden makes Celtic admission after controversy

There was a lot of hoopla around the introduction of VAR into Scottish football. Its use in the game between Celtic and Hearts raised more questions than solve problems though, as a number of decisions left the viewers scratching their heads.

One such decision was the one to deny Celtic what looked like a stonewall penalty. James Forrest’s flick pretty clearly struck the arm of Michael Smith in the Hearts box and yet, nothing was given, even with VAR in place. The referee was not shy in pointing to the spot on the day though, awarding two spot kicks to Hearts.

Bobby Madden, who has not been a particular favourite of Celtic fans during his time refereeing in Scotland, feels that the visitors should have been handed a spot kick.

As reported by the Daily Record, Madden said regarding the controversial penalty incident from the Celtic vs Hearts game:

"“Handball is so subjective.“It will always split a room. Difficult call live. Personally – I think it’s a penalty and should have been VAR intervention.”"

Madden makes Celtic penalty admission after controversial incident against Hearts

Madden left Scottish football over the summer and now referees in the English Football League. While he was in favour of Celtic getting the penalty, he did praise the retaken spot kick on the day, which is arguably the only decision that went the Hoops’ way when it comes to VAR.

Of course, the penalty was not the only incident on the day that Celtic fans were unhappy about. They had a couple of goals chalked off as well.

A header from Anthony Ralston in the first half was ruled out for a foul in the box. Then late in injury time Liel Abada raced through to beat Craig Gordon only to see his goal ruled out for offside.

With VAR being new and already providing controversial moments, building confidence in the new system will be critical. Explaining publicly why decisions were taken and how VAR is used should be a critical part of that confidence building approach.