Celtic are at the centre of a VAR storm that is unlikely to go away any time soon following their 2-0 defeat to Heart of Midlothian yesterday afternoon.
Two key decisions went against the Bhoys at Tynecastle, which both contributed heavily to the end result, leaving Brendan Rodgers incensed at full-time.
Early in proceedings, Hyunjun Yang was sent off for the visitors due to a high tackle on Alex Cochrane, which directly followed his involvement in winning a penalty, which Adam Idah failed to convert.
Don Robertson initially booked Yang for the offence; however, he was sent to the monitor to review the challenge and subsequently upgraded the yellow to a straight red card.
In an incident before the interval that has caused just as much controversy, Tomoki Iwata was reprimanded for a handball in the area despite not actually looking in the direction play was headed.
Countless other incidents across the country this season have gone unpunished, though Celtic had to bear the brunt of a curious evaluation process involving Robertson and VAR official John Beaton, culminating in a penalty being awarded that Jorge Grant converted for the hosts.
With Rodgers’ side already down to ten men, Hearts had the odds stacked in their favour, and Lawrence Shankland made sure of three points in the 56th minute.
The Irishman stated in his post-match press conference: “I never like to comment on officials, it’s not something I do. But that cost us today. The officiating from on the field to John Beaton being in VAR, that was really, really poor.”
Former Celtic icon Chris Sutton shares his take on VAR
In today’s edition of Sky Sports feature Ref Watch, former official Dermot Gallagher opined that referees have penalised every instance similar to Iwata’s handball in Scottish football this season.
The Irishman claimed on the show: “What you would say is, we’ve seen this in the Scottish league all season. The one thing they’ve been consistent about, any incident like that has been penalised for handball. I think harsh, very, very unlucky. But to their credit, every single one they’ve given.”
Former Celtic icon Chris Sutton has now taken to social media platform X to add some further fuel to the fire regarding VAR in the Scottish game.
The 50-year-old also suggested that the Iwata incident may not have been fully evaluated before a penalty was given against Celtic.
Recent VAR controversy involving Celtic is unlikely to disappear
When a decision that splits opinion in Scotland influences the outcome of a match, there is usually an inquest in the following days that reaches every corner of the media, social media and the wider footballing consciousness across the country.
Unsurprisingly, a club like Celtic are no different in that respect, and fans are clearly frustrated at the events that unfolded in the capital.
On a different token, a lack of transparency behind said calls doesn’t exactly help the situation. One wonders if, in the future, there can be a mechanism where referees can have a platform to explain why they have arrived at a particular finding.
Of course, this is a purely theoretical suggestion; however, it feels like we go around in circles as a country discussing the same issues in relation to officials, no matter what team you support.
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