The 2026 World Cup is set to go ahead without a single Scottish referee involved. For many around domestic football, including Celtic fans and even Michael Stewart, that outcome will not exactly come as a surprise.
However, speaking openly about the Scottish Football Association and its match officials is something that can quickly come back to bite you, as Stewart has discovered first hand. Criticising the governing body has already seen him land in trouble, even resulting in a ban from Hampden itself.
That situation has already involved the former Hearts midfielder, but it has now taken yet another strange turn ahead of Celtic’s Scottish Cup semi-final against St Mirren on Sunday.
Stewart’s broadcast employers at Premier Sports did not accept the decision quietly. In a striking show of resistance, he ended up covering Dunfermline’s victory over Falkirk live from the Hampden car park.
In another bizarre and slightly petty twist, even that option has now been taken away, with the SFA reportedly extending the restriction to include the car park area as well.
Embarrassing from SFA as Michael Stewart gets further ban ahead of Celtic vs St Mirren in Scottish Cup semi-final:
Stewart’s only real “offence” has been his ongoing criticism of refereeing standards in Scotland this season. As already highlighted, no Scottish officials will be present at this summer’s World Cup, despite 170 referees being selected overall.
That alone raises questions.
Yet here is Stewart, voicing concerns about officiating in Scotland, basically repeating what many already think, regardless of whether people agree with him or not, and now facing what many would see as unnecessary punishments.
Is it surprising? Not really. This is not the first time a restriction like this has been handed out, and it probably will not be the last. It is something that has appeared across the game before, and even Celtic have been involved in similar situations over the years.
Still, this was the statement released by Premier Sports, as reported by The Scotsman, regarding Stewart’s latest Hampden car park ban.
“Following today’s Scottish Cup semi-final, where Michael Stewart was unable to broadcast from inside Hampden and instead contributed from our production truck, we have now been informed by the SFA that he is also banned from the stadium car park.
“This further escalation is deeply disappointing and has left Premier Sports, the SFA’s broadcast partner, scrambling to find solutions for our exclusive coverage of Celtic v St Mirren tomorrow.
“We also wish to reiterate our full support for Michael Stewart as a valued member of our team, and we will continue to seek alternative ways to ensure he can remain involved in our coverage of matches from Hampden.”
It will be interesting to see what Premier Sports come up with next. At this rate, you half expect Stewart to be commentating from somewhere completely random like a nearby takeaway.
Either way, when you start restricting people over strong opinions, especially when those opinions have some basis, it sets a worrying tone.
And on this occasion, the SFA have certainly taken things to an extreme.