Celtic’s Scottish Cup win over Rangers was marred by the Ibrox crowd trouble that has stolen all the headlines over the last few days.
However, there were three big VAR calls made in Celtic’s victory over Rangers which, under normal circumstances, would have been discussed at length this week.
Daizen Maeda’s Celtic goal was ruled offside, Emanuel Fernandez had his extra-time strike disallowed for handball and there was, of course, Auston Trusty’s handball that was correctly waved away.
However, BBC Sportscene instantly dismissed Maeda’s contentious offside call to speak about Trusty’s handball in a bizarre analysis segment that arguably ignored the biggest talking point of the game.
- READ MORE: Debunking Andy Halliday’s claim by video that Celtic fans ‘goaded’ Rangers supporters at Ibrox
Was the decision to rule Daizen Maeda’s goal vs Rangers really so clear cut?
Why BBC Sportscene ignored Daizen Maeda’s offside Celtic goal vs Rangers
Maeda thought he had scored again against Rangers until VAR found a slight offside on Celtic defender Liam Scales.
It clearly wasn’t that slight as host Dougie Donnelly said on BBC Sportscene, “There were two disallowed goals which we’re actually not going to show because there’s no real argument about them.
“The Maeda offside and the Fernandez handball, both disallowed by VAR, no real argument about either.
“However possible handball from Austin Trusty here?”
The Trusty handball was probably the least controversial of the three decisions and was almost instantaneously dismissed by VAR.
What a bizarre stance to take from the broadcaster as they missed a great opportunity to give some real insight on the decision.
Ex-SFA referee Steve Conroy’s damning insight to Maeda VAR goal
Steve Conroy did not take any prisoners as he laid into VAR for the call to rule out Maeda’s goal at Ibrox.
Conroy said, “An assumption is a guess. Let’s not beat about the bush. I’ve long since given up trying to fathom what the SFA do. One week, it’s two lines. One week, it’s not.
“We’re guessing, we can’t get the lines drawn anyway, so we’re just going to have a wee go at it. It is becoming farcical, and it’s making us look like country yokels.
“It’s an absolute joke, not taken away from the fact that I think Scales was offside. But just give us it the way it should be. We don’t want diet VAR. Just give us the full fat version.
“It’s an absolute nonsense.”
I think that sentiment perfectly sums up how the vast majority of Celtic supporters feel about the refereeing technology
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