Celtic are back at Motherwell on Saturday for the first time since a hugely embarrassing moment for the SFA.
The Hoops visited Fir Park twice last season, both in the space of a few weeks in late 2022. The first trip was a comfortable 4-0 League Cup victory, while the following league clash was a lot more controversial.
Again, we came out on top, winning the match 2-1 thanks to goals from Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda. Our former winger Jota also struck in the match but saw his delightful goal ruled out for offside.
Jota was adjudged to have been offside when running onto a Kyogo pass and netting. VAR took an age to look at the incident before coming to the conclusion that he had been offside.
But there was an issue. The camera angle they were using wasn’t conclusive. It was from the other end of the pitch. There was seemingly no angle from the other side. You can view the incident from 1:45 in the official match highlights.
Celtic were unsurprisingly not happy with events and wrote to the SFA seeking clarification. The governing body were forced to release a ‘Referee Operations Statement’.
It read: “Referee Operations can confirm that during a VAR review at Motherwell v Celtic, the footage from the relevant 18-yard line camera did not capture an appropriate view of the incident.
“While the broadcast footage was only able to show a wider camera angle for viewers, Hawk-Eye technology is designed to calibrate an accurate offside decision from either of the two 18-yard line camera positions, with the subsequent VAR review determining that the Celtic player had received the ball in an offside position.
“We have provided feedback to the host broadcaster on the incident as part of our regular review of the system operation.” (SFA)
Simply put, the camera in question was also being used by the match broadcasters and was focused on the Fir Park dugout rather than Jota and the Motherwell defence. It was an embarrassing shambles for the SFA that may have ruled out one of the finest Hoops goals from last season.
Jota may have been offside, but he certainly didn’t look it from the coverage. We’ll never know for sure and that is a black mark against the SFA and VAR. Let’s hope that camera is pointed the right way this weekend.
In other news, Ange Postecoglou makes it clear how much he still loves Celtic in new Sky Sports interview
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