Cameron Carter-Vickers has shared how the Celtic players felt immediately after VAR decided to award a penalty for a Tomoki Iwata handball at Tynecastle this weekend.
The decision by VAR to intervene and suggest to match referee, Don Robertson, that he had made a clear and obvious error has been universally panned by Brendan Rodgers, pundits and former professional footballers.
Whilst many football fans inside the stadium and watching at home were left scratching their heads at the penalty award, Carter-Vickers has shared exactly how the Celtic (and Hearts) players felt as they awaited the conclusion of the VAR check.
Carter-Vickers said [Daily Record print edition page 50], “I would like the referee to stick with his original decision, especially when he had a clear view of it the first time around.”
“I don’t think a single player on the pitch knew who had handballed it.
“Most people on the pitch thought it was Ali Johnston.
“Obviously it wasn’t, it was Tomo. When you are jumping for the ball, your arms naturally come up.
“On top of that, there is a lot of pushing and shoving that goes on which can move your body and make it seem like it moves in the direction of the ball when you never meant to.
“If a referee has seen it first time around clearly, I don’t understand why there is a need for him to go to a monitor at all.
“If he hasn’t seen it, if he has only seen it through bodies or if he hasn’t had a good angle, then that is fair enough.”
I mean even now, I am still perplexed at the reasoning behind VAR getting involved in not just this decision but also Celtic’s penalty award and the sending-off of Hyunjun Yang.
All three were ludicrous and with Celtic now appealing the South Korean’s ordering off, the fans will be hopeful that at least one wrong will be righted this week.
In other news, Neil Lennon shares what Celtic captain Callum McGregor has told him about his injury
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