‘Beyond me’ – BBC man puts SFA Chief Executive Ian Maxwell straight on how VAR has let Celtic down

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VAR is a topic in Scottish football that irritates not just the Celtic supporters.

The video technology creates a lot of headlines as VAR gives Scottish football and Celtic fans a right big headache.

Brendan Rodgers has watched his Celtic team get punished by VAR unfairly on numerous occasions since he returned to Parkhead.

And here, SFA Chief Executive Ian Maxwell has been told how his officials are ‘letting themselves down’ after being put straight on a big VAR call that was incorrect vs Celtic.

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Ian Maxwell told SFA officials are ‘liable’ for key Hibs vs Celtic decision

Maxwell was speaking to the BBC about a variety of issues on Scottish football when the VAR issue raised its head.

And talking about Celtic’s goal against Hibs that was ruled out, Rory Loy put the SFA CEO straight on how that decision was ‘beyond’ him.

Loy said on The Scottish Football Podcast, “I know it’s going to be staying, but I like VAR. I think it’s improving all the time, and I think it’s got better. I do think human error has come in to play this season in a couple of massive incidents.

“For example, the one at Easter Road, is the ball in or out? Factually, you cannot call that because you don’t have the facts. So regardless of how it looks, you can’t call that.

“For me, that highlights really bad decision making from humans. So I think, in my opinion as well, big moments.”

Maxwell replied, “How’s that a bad decision by a human if you can’t call it?”

Loy: “Because you’ve got to stick with the decision that was given on the park. The decision on the park was given as a goal. You can’t then review that and say, well, we think it looks out from this angle, so we’re going to say it was out.

Maxwell: “Are you talking about Hibs vs Celtic?”

Loy, “Yeah, Hibs vs Celtic. So that for me, I mean, how anyone can make that mistake in the VAR room is beyond me. You cannot say 100% that that ball went out.

“So I do think it has improved, VAR. I think the people using it are liable at times in big moments of letting themselves down.”

Three big decisions VAR got wrong vs Celtic last season

The Hibs decision was probably the worst of the lot, but here are five other occasions VAR let Celtic down last season:

• Celtic vs St Johnstone: VAR ruled out a penalty call for Celtic when James Forrest was pulled down in the St Johnstone box in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden.
• Motherwell vs Celtic: Adam Idah had a goal ruled offside as the Celtic TV commentator raged at the lines drawn by the VAR officials.
• Daizen Maeda vs Motherwell: The Japanese striker had a goal ruled out for handball but a clear penalty was missed for a foul on the Celtic striker in the build up to the goal.

Those are just three but in reality, Celtic supporters know that since its introduction, VAR has failed the club plenty of times over the years.