NafisaThe Scottish FA have effectively admitted Celtic were badly let down by officials during last weekend’s dramatic 2-1 victory over Hibernian at Easter Road after their latest KMI Panel report criticised key decisions involving Don Robertson and David Dickinson.
Celtic eventually left Edinburgh with all three points thanks to a late winner, but the fallout from several controversial moments has continued to dominate discussion ahead of Sunday’s massive Old Firm clash with Rangers.
The biggest talking point surrounded a second half incident involving Ben Nygren.
With the score locked at 1-1, the Celtic attacker was clearly pushed inside the penalty area by Hibs midfielder Josh Campbell as he attempted to cut the ball back across goal from the byline.
Despite both referee David Dickinson and assistant Calum Spence being close to the incident, no penalty was awarded. Instead, play restarted with a goal kick for Hibs after tempers flared between players.
Now, the SFA’s own KMI Panel has publicly stated that the officials got the decision wrong.
In their official report released on Saturday morning, the panel concluded:
“The panel unanimously agreed that the on-field decision was incorrect. The panel highlighted VAR should have intervened to recommend an OFR and a penalty should have been awarded.”
That statement represents a major embarrassment for both Dickinson and VAR official Don Robertson, especially given the amount of scrutiny already surrounding officiating standards in Scottish football.
The KMI Panel, made up of former referees, players and pundits, rarely goes as far as openly stating that VAR should have stepped in and corrected a decision.
That is what makes this latest admission stand out even more.
Supporters were already furious during the match after Sky Sports barely revisited the incident on broadcast coverage, while Robertson and Duncan Nicolson, who were overseeing VAR duties, appeared not to recommend any review whatsoever.
The panel did support two other major VAR interventions from the game.
Firstly, Kieran McGrath’s yellow card for his challenge on Alistair Johnston was upgraded to a red card following a pitchside review.
They also agreed with the decision to overturn Douglas Ross’ offside flag against Daizen Maeda, allowing Celtic’s goal to stand correctly.
However, it is the Nygren penalty incident that continues to generate the strongest reaction.
For two officials on the pitch to miss the foul was one thing. For VAR to completely ignore such an obvious incident has left many supporters demanding accountability from the SFA ahead of the final weeks of the season.
There has also been continued anger over Joe Newell’s equaliser, with many former referees and pundits believing a handball should have ruled the goal out before it stood after a VAR check.
Despite that controversy, the KMI Panel agreed with Robertson’s decision to allow the goal.
Attention will now turn towards the SFA’s next round of referee appointments.
At the time of writing, appointments for the upcoming Premiership fixtures on May 13 and May 16 have still not been published.
That has only intensified speculation over whether Dickinson and Robertson will be handed major matches after the controversy at Easter Road.
Nafisa
