There are several specific matches and incidents where VAR decisions have left Celtic fans stunned. That was the case again after Monday’s draw against the Rangers at Ibrox. After the latest incident, the Hoops must ask some questions to the Scottish FA about how the new system is interpreting the rules of the game.
For a system that was supposed to improve in-match decision making and refereeing standards, there are too many inconsistent and confusing decisions being made since the introduction of VAR in Scotland.
Let’s put aside the penalty awarded to the Rangers at the weekend. There’s plenty of debate around already on whether that was valid or not. And we could question the role of VAR in reviewing. But instead let’s just focus on a poor run of inconsistent decisions around handballs in Celtic matches this season.
The laws changed in the summer in defining what is/isn’t handball, but it’s hard to see any consistency from one match to another when the ball hits a player’s hand. After Connor Goldson’s two hands up deflection of the ball in Sunday’s match at Ibrox, Celtic fans were left asking the same question once again. Chris Sutton tweeted out after the match:
Celtic got away with that. CCV was immense. Too many players way off it. Mooy excellent when he came on. Juranovic would have struggled to impresss any watching scouts… would Willie Collum in the VAR hut have awarded a penalty had a Celtic player handled the ball like Goldson??
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) January 2, 2023
Celtic must raise questions to SFA after another controversial decision
Amongst the questions though is the bafflement at why VAR didn’t ask referee, John Beaton, to take a look for himself via the pitch side monitor. When it involves an interpretation of body shape and the positioning of the arm, that should have been a normal step to take.
VAR isn’t making post-match referring debates any less, it’s instead adding to the clouds of confusion, cynicism and suspicion that Scottish football appears to permanently live under.
It’s not Celtic’s style to publicly criticise referees and these decisions. But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be seeking clarity in a private dialogue with the SFA. Questions around the growing handball debate must be raised and the club need to be asking them.
There is a need to make public the reasoning behind decisions, the thought process in the VAR Room and the communication with the match referee. Here they can take a page out of cricket’s book, where you can hear the third umpire talking through the entire process of a review. That’s the only way we’ll see any reduction in negativity towards the way VAR operates.