As confusions still reign over Celtic’s VAR controversy at Hearts last weekend, many fans and pundits in the game are losing patience with the refereeing technology.
And to be honest, it’s not so much the technology itself that’s annoying the fans, it’s the sheer inconsistency in how it’s applied to the game that’s leaving us all baffled.
But that really shouldn’t be the case. Because, according to former referee Bobby Madden, UEFA sends guidance to all match officials before the new season starts so that the rules can be applied fairly across all national associations under their umbrella.
Speaking about Hyunjun Yang’s red card specifically, Madden revealed that UEFA have been crystal clear on how the excessive force rule should be applied in the event of a high boot.
Madden said [Scottish Football Podcast], “This all revolves around whether there was contact with the studs.
“People say it is different in Scotland from England and UEFA/FIFA. UEFA send out clips every year to the referee assistant program.
“If you make contact with studs to the head or face they expect a red card. That is the criteria referees are working towards.
“If you make it with the laces or side of boot, if no excessive force. A yellow card. The referee and assistant believe I can’t identify any contact with the studs so ‘reckless, yellow card’.”
So why, then, was this not applied at Tynecastle last Sunday? Did John Beaton and Don Robertson simply forget about the guidance?
Or maybe they felt that excessive force was used when the play was slowed down and looked at how Alex Cochrane reacted to the challenge.
Whatever has happened in the decision-making at Tynecastle, one thing is obvious. The SFA must revisit this and ensure UEFA’s guidance is complied with at all times as mistakes like the ones Celtic suffered last week could prove costly.
With a £60m Champions League bounty awaiting the winners of the Scottish Premiership, Celtic’s defeat at Tynecastle could be one of the most expensive ones in the history of the game.
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