Ex Premier League referee in 'not fit for purpose' claim over VAR after two Celtic incidents spark SFA demand
A former Premier League referee has weighed in on two Celtic incidents that have created controversy.
A former Premier League referee has urged the Scottish FA to invest in upgrading VAR after two Celtic incidents in the last week.
The Hoops defeated St Mirren 2-1 last weekend in Paisley before a midweek Premiership away victory at St Johnstone by a 1-0 margin. Both games had VAR incidents go against them, as Shim Mheuka had a first Celtic goal since joining from Chelsea disallowed goal for offside against the Buddies, while Haissem Hassan’s strike was ruled out in Perth.
Tech issues emerged in each match though as one was ruled out due to the inability to draw offside lines up and the other because there were no clear camera angles to determine whether the ball had left play. Ex Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg doesn’t think this is good enough and insists the SFA must spend cash to avoid future incidents like the Celtic disallowed strikes.
Do SFA need to invest more in VAR?
He told GRV Media: “The technology that Scotland uses in their top league for VAR is not fit for purpose. Where there is so much at stake, again and again the system does not work at a crucial moment.
“In a recent Celtic match against St Mirren, the VAR could not draw the offside lines because of a technical issue, but ultimately the decision was right, as it could be seen that the attacker was in an offside position. But in the match Celtic v St Johnstone, the VAR system failed again as the ball went outside of the camera frame and could not be checked by VAR to show that Celtic may have scored.
“The on-field decision by the Assistant Referee was that the ball had left the field of play for a goal kick, but further evidence available, not available to the VAR, may prove that the officials may have got this one wrong. The Scottish FA needs to invest more money into the system which is fit for purpose.”
Martin O’Neill on VAR decision against Celtic
O’Neill said after the disallowed Celtic goal at St Mirren: “I didn’t agree with them the referee’s decision but I didn’t see the lines. It is frustrating in that sense.
“You’d think in this particular day and age you’d be able to get lines drawn properly but I think it has been a bit of a problem here for a while. You know what, some days it will work in our favour so I shouldn’t complain. I’m not complaining because we won.”
The Scottish Football Social Club is presented by BetSBK.com | 18+ | Gamble Responsibly