Keith Hackett, the EPL and FIFA accredited ref, says that Celtic’s goal against Livingston should have stood. We all know this. But his interpretation of the incident is particularly amusing. He basically says that the VAR official and the ref decided to interpret the rules in such a way as they essentially acted as mind-readers and not referees.
Furthermore, he has said that this is not the way matches are supposed to be officiated.
“The referee can only make a decision based on an action,” he said. “You can’t start looking at the thought process of the defender, and whether Abada distracted him. You’re making assumptions otherwise. The referee can only judge based on what he has seen.”
Only based on what he has seen.
That’s the clearest explanation for what a referee is supposed to do that you will get. Instead, these guys decided to act on their own interpretation as to whether or not the Livingston defender was trying to play the ball.
Of all the excuses offered so far I think the one they came up with for that decision is the worst yet, and it gets more stinking by the day because officials in this country now feel they have a license to let their imaginations run away with them … or to spin negative calls any way they want. In this case it was as if the decision took time because they looked for whatever pretext they could find, however flimsy, for chopping off the goal.
Hackett went even further though; he seemed to suggest that the rules are written to keep bias out of the process, and that in this case it was allowed to creep in.
“Because human beings are involved, these decisions can change from one time to the next,” he said. And that could be interpreted as him saying that individuals make mistakes or something much more sinister. He could be saying both.
Finally, he thought that for these reasons the initial decision should have stood, with the goal awarded to Ababa.
“I think the VAR should have supported the referee’s process, and then the Scottish FA can come out and give the reasons for why they think he was right.”
And we all know that was a legitimate goal.
We all know the decision is virtually indefensible, and it is hard to believe that this farce was permitted. If the media was willing to do its job and question this stuff properly our officials would have to improve … or play it straight.
As it stands there is no incentive for them to do either.
The SFA and the referees in this country are biased and/or bigoted. The same goes for most of the media and the others lack the balls to speak their minds or are soup-takers.
Mr Hackett is spot on with his analysis.
If only we had honest officials like that.
The celtic board are neglecting their duty in this fiasco. It should have been nipped in the bud after the tynecastle disgrace but weeks later the same issues are taking place.
This IS a battle we should choose to fight.
They won’t speak their mind even if they wanted to, for fear of bullets and bombs.
Until the day Celtic FC decide to stop sitting on its hands and confront the governing authorities over the inconsistencies with VAR ,we will all continue to talk about at length how our club is being shafted by everything associated with technology… The talking has to stop and let the actions begin …
Dirty cheatin h*n bastards
Ffs we KNOW there’s blatant pro ibrox-anti- Celtic bias wi these so called ‘officials’ . It is and always has been the case.The problem is, it’s hard tae prove outright, even tho the examples pile up, that an officials bein biased. It’s always been the same. Only ones that can push some sort of change or investigative action i.e. Gettin in officials from outside Scotland, or officials havin tae explain their decisions if they’re dodgy, are our own people in charge, Desmond, Lawwell etc. They’re the ones who should be keepin a close eye on all this and be prepared tae act on it.
Very apt considering Kenny Clark’s admission of being conned by Kyle Lafferty regarding the Charlie mulgrews
supposed headbut.
If he didnt see it he should never have gave it but he did .
Were not paranoid enough
So deep are they embedded in our society that I struggle to understand who anyone thinks that we should complain to that will listen and respond. Every time a dodgy decision goes against us and/or for them, an explanation is provided. Thus with the power of the institutions, press and media shutting down any debate the door is continually slammed shut.
Any solitary action, such as withdrawing funding support for VAR will lead to sanctions on us and wouldn’t they just love that.
Michael Collins commented the other day from Thailand – is that Johnny D?
Watch this space because the game next week will be full controversial decisions all in sevco’s favour.
The go-ahead has been given to the refs and the people working VAR to cheat away,and not just for this game ir previously games played these dodgy decisions are here to stay and can only get worse and more bizarre.
YAWN YAWN YAWN,IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE CASE IN SCOTLAND WITH PEEPUL OFFIXATING GAMES,BEAT THEM ON THE PARK BHOYS GOOD LUCK. AGAINST OFFIXES AND VAR
No, not Johnny D.