Michael Stewart has hit out at the current state of Scottish officiating, specifically regarding the ‘micro-analysis’ of physical contact during Celtic’s recent 3-1 victory over Motherwell.
The flashpoint, which saw calls for Daizen Maeda to be punished for a challenge on Motherwell’s Ibrahim Said, has become the latest battleground for debates over VAR’s influence on the game’s natural flow.
“We have got to a situation now where it’s a nonsense,” said Stewart. “Every single coming together is micro-analysed beyond belief.”
Stewart argues that the incident involving Maeda and Said was a standard footballing interaction where the Japanese international was simply trying to get his body across the opponent.
To Stewart, the suggestion that an outstretched arm to hold off a player constitutes a red card for violent conduct is a symptom of a wider modern football flaw.
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Michael Stewart slams suggestion that Daizen Maeda should have been sent off against Motherwell
At the time of the incident, Celtic and Motherwell were locked in at 1-1, with the game producing several high-quality moments.
Not so long after, Motherwell themselves would see red when Emmanuel Longelo was sent off for fouling Maeda in the penalty area.
Tomas Cvancara would convert the penalty, and Celtic would take the lead, before Hyunjun Yang finished off the game, but that didn’t stop the talk around Maeda’s challenge on Said.
Stewart maintains that, while a free-kick might have been justified, the jump to a ‘red card’ conversation is precisely what is alienating supporters.
Speaking on Premier Sports, Stewart believes the sport is losing its identity by scrutinising normal body positioning through a slow-motion lens.
Ultimately, the former midfielder insists that a return to ‘actual normal football play’ is necessary for the benefit of the ‘punters in the stands’ and the integrity of the game itself.
“We have got to a situation now where it’s a nonsense,” said Stewart. “Every single coming together is micro-analysed beyond belief.
“That is football. You could say, ‘it’s a foul because he has checked him.’ But all he is trying to do there is the ball is being laid off, and it’s exactly that, he’s trying to get his body across him.
“He’s not thrown an elbow. He’s putting his arm out to basically hold him off. The fact that it gets anywhere close up there is why folk are talking about it.
“In the actual play of the game, that sort of thing, as far as I am concerned, is normal. Yes, you could perhaps punish it with a free-kick. I don’t even think it should be talked about as a yellow card. Maybe a free-kick. That’s it.
“But for folk to start talking about, ‘Oh, he has thrown an elbow.’ Yeah, he knows what he is doing in terms of checking the player. But that’s not a red card.
“Honestly, the sooner we get back to actual normal football play. It will be better for punters in the stands and everybody else who is playing the game of football.”
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