The SFA KMI Panel votes ‘unanimously’ on Celtic penalty call vs St Johnstone

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Refereeing and VAR have come under the spotlight recently as Celtic fans have watched the recent meltdown over the League Cup final over the last two weeks.

The video technology was meant to reduce the number of mistakes made by referees and, in truth, it probably has. But there are still some decisions the on-field officials and the VAR guys still get wrong that baffle the Celtic support ever since it was introduced in October 2023.

The penalty controversy in the Celtic vs Rangers League Cup final is a small drop in the ocean compared to some of the spot kicks the Parkhead club have been awarded against them by VAR.

And in Celtic’s win over St Johnstone on Sunday, there was another decision that the video referee made that has come under the scrutiny of the SFAs KMI Panel this week.

SFA deliver verdict on Hyunjun Yang Celtic penalty shout vs St Johnstone

Celtic took care of St Johnstone in a game where there were no real refereeing controversies for once at Parkhead.

However, there was a shout for a Celtic penalty in the game after St Johnstone’s Andre Raymond appeared to foul Hyunjun Yand in the 18-yard box.

The match officials and the VAR team deemed the challenge perfectly legal and the game continued and that view was backed up by the SFA KMI Panel yesterday.

Voting 5-0 in favour of the match officials, the panel said, “The on-field decision was unanimously supported.”

Celtic, Rangers, VAR and the upcoming Glasgow Derby

Celtic and Rangers have both had their fair share of VAR controversies this season both separately and in the Glasgow Derby.

Rangers got away with one against Motherwell after VAR failed to intervene and award the Fir Park side a goal that was incorrectly chalked off by the on-field referee.

With the upcoming New Year derby just 48 hours away, there will be hope that VAR and the referee will be anonymous bystanders after recent errors at Ibrox have cost Celtic penalties and saw dubious spot kicks being awarded against the Parkhead club.

At least the Hoops’ support can sit back and relax and enjoy this game because no matter the result, at the end of 90 minutes, Celtic will still have a healthy lead at the top of the league.