Willie Collum has come out strongly against conspiracies about refereeing in Scotland.
The SFA’s head of refereeing – who spent almost 25 years as a referee himself, of course – described them as “ridiculous” and a “scourge on society” in Scotland.
Celtic have been at the centre of plenty of refereeing controversy this season, with Collum’s team’s implementation of VAR being almost universally criticised.
But criticism of mistakes is one thing, and conspiracies are another, as the ref chief was keen to stress.
VAR in Scottish football: incompetent refs, bad technology or both?
Willie Collum on Scottish refereeing conspiracies
Collum said on the A Level Playing Field Podcast: “It’s painful at times in Scotland.
“Often my wife will say to me, ‘how would you feel if the head of refereeing was coming out and talking about your decisions?’
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“But sometimes, I just wanted to explain that it’s a mistake. You know?
“Instead of where we are in the west of Scotland where everybody thinks there’s a big scandal or conspiracy behind a mistake, which I think is ridiculous.”
Asked if we will ever move on from the culture of conspiracy theories, Collum said: “I’m not so sure, Allison. It’s a good question.
“I think it drags us down. I think it’s a scourge on us as a society as well.
“But, if you look at my colleague Martin Atkinson – who has been a great asset for us in in terms of refereeing. He is working very closely with the referees and made a lot of improvements.
“He was a top referee in England, refereed all the biggest matches, a Europa League final in 2016, went to Euro with me in 2016…
“He has openly said that the scrutiny probably within the West of Scotland, looking at some sinister reason behind decisions, is much, far, far worse than anything he has been able to see in England.”
A former leading referee in English football, Atkinson is now the SFA’s head of VAR… a job that many would probably deem impossible.
Celtic’s appeal over Auston Trusty’s red card is thrown out. What do you think? Fair?
Celtic’s biggest gripe with VAR this season
The Hoops’ biggest gripe with VAR this season was undoubtedly Auston Trusty’s red card against Hibs last month.
Martin O’Neill was strongly critical of the call, saying that “in time, we won’t need a referee”, such is the level of re-refereeing going on in a VAR world.
Celtic appealed the decision, confirming so in a strongly-worded statement. However, the SFA’s KMI panel voted unanimously that the decision was correct.
It resulted in a three-match ban for Trusty, which has now been fully served. He is expected to return to the side for this weekend’s clash with Dundee United.
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