Things seem to be going from bad to worse for the SFA regarding the failure to award Rangers a penalty in the Premier Sports Cup final.
CEO Ian Maxwell spoke to journalists and made it clear why the games governing body has been keeping quiet because he only made things worse – hoping that it will go away by saying “these things happen” isn’t going to wash.
That every ex-referee who covered the game and who has commented afterwards, including self-confessed Celtic fans, are outraged at the error is evidence enough for Patrick Stewart to take Rangers case as high as he can.
- READ MORE: ‘Misapplied the rules’ precedent that Patrick Stewart could pursue for Rangers cup final replay
Referees react to SFA claims after Rangers penalty controversy
Reacting to Maxwell’s statement, Des Roache and Steve Conroy on SM Media’s The Ref’s View X page aren’t happy that officials getting the right decision doesn’t seem to be a problem for Maxwell:
“Brushing things off as “decisions will be wrong” is why there is so much scrutiny on referees.
“Do everything in your power to come to the right decision, transparency is irrelevant if it’s just going to be passed off as another mistake.”
It’s been a long time since an incident unified presenters and pundits from across Scotland to the extent that they all agree on the same opinion.
Usually, refereeing decisions cause debate, there is an element of subjectivity, however, Alan Muir and Frank Connor have fundamentally failed in their most basic duty as VAR officials – to inform John Beaton that he got the positioning of the foul on Vaclav Cerny wrong.
Willie Collum still in hiding despite transparency claims
Willie Collum spoke about transparency when he earned a promotion after years of controversy as the man in the middle and yet the former whistler has been silent for days now.
Roache and Conroy are right, it wasn’t just “another mistake”, it was a failure to award a clear and obvious penalty to a team in a national cup final.
There was no need to rush because the game had stopped and there was no dubiety either.
That they took longer to check Rangers opening goal when Nedim Bajrami was three yards onside says it all.
