Breaking news from England today: David Coote, the referee at the centre of allegations that he made derogatory comments about Liverpool and their manager—remarks caught on film—has been fired. That’s exactly how it should be. That’s an appropriate response.
Once again, England is unintentionally embarrassing the hell out of the SFA, but they’ve done it nonetheless.
Frankly, I think they’ve also embarrassed UEFA. We’re about to have a referee officiating our game who was suspended over a match-fixing allegation. Why he isn’t serving a life ban is beyond me. Sure, he cooperated to catch a bigger fish, but the fact that he was involved in such a scandal should rule him out of refereeing any high-profile game ever again. And yet, he’s had semi-finals and other big matches in the Euros, and he’s refereed two of our games before.
The real scandal here isn’t just that UEFA allowed this referee to continue officiating; it’s that he was caught, convicted, and still gets these assignments. It’s that it’s open, that it’s right out there. The moment it came to light that he had been banned as a “co-operator” he should have been gone. The guy he testified against received a lifetime ban, which is UEFA’s excuse for leniency. But there’s no such alibi for what’s happening here on Sunday—a controversy on its own level.
The scandal in Scotland isn’t that this situation is unusual; it’s that it’s considered normal. That’s the real outrage. Many people here seem conditioned to think of our footballing environment as normal, but we all know it’s one of the least normal football setups anywhere.
On our podcast this week, myself, Joe McHugh, and Eric Knott discussed this. What amazes me—and what I said on the podcast—is that we can openly state that this referee shouldn’t be near this match and know that no one will contradict us far less challenge us on it. Nobody doubts what we’re saying. Nobody doubts that John Beaton is a fan of the Ibrox club.
How have we reached the point where something so blatant is just accepted? Where it’s so routine that the media doesn’t care, our club doesn’t seem to care, and nobody in the upper echelons of the game questions it? As I wrote last week, this isn’t an “open secret.” It’s just open.
There’s no secrecy involved.
How much longer will we tolerate this as a club?
There’s no advantage to us in letting it continue.
Beaton being given this game was the most predictable outcome. Nobody I know doubted it for a second. He shouldn’t be anywhere near this match, and that’s obvious. His allegiances are too well-known. They’re accepted as fact. And yet, we’re expected to pretend this is fine, as if we should all just accept it.
Nobody in the media or within the game’s hierarchy can offer a coherent justification for why we don’t have the same regulations as every other European association. This nonsense about how it would be questioning the “integrity of officials” is laughable. It should be challenged every time it’s repeated because it’s clear to anyone paying attention how broken this system is.
Let’s be blunt: the integrity of referees should be in question. We shouldn’t just take them at their word. Referees across Europe have been caught doing the wrong thing. Some countries have been rocked by multiple scandals. England’s situation is just the latest example to happen there.
Here, we have a system wide open to corruption, and we’ve done nothing to address it. Nothing at all to lessen the chances of it happening or mitigate the damage if it does.
Bias doesn’t have to be the only reason for bad decisions in a game. Motives don’t have to be linked to club preference. I’m not saying referees in Scotland are crooked, but we must acknowledge that it’s possible. These are human beings, not robots immune to greed, bias, or emotional responses.
No association in Europe—perhaps none in the world—would allow a known supporter of one of the cup final teams to officiate that match. It’s a ludicrous situation. If you explained it to someone unfamiliar with our peculiar corner of the world, they’d think it was too absurd to be true.
But here in Scotland, this is treated as normal. It is anything but normal.
Our second podcast is up and live now folks; we’re calling this one The Team Effort, in recognition of what makes this Celtic side particularly good.
While our club allows this situation to persist, apparently unchallenged, the”authorities” will do nothing about it, and why should they?
@ TonyB. Exactly.
Lord Lucan-Nicholson will say his yellow streak cowardly square root of FUCK ALL –
We will need to be SUPER GREAT on the day because of this…
Or – We will be BEATON on the day !
Why on earth is there no challenge from our club regarding cheatin beatin being appointed to the cup final ,everyone and their dog knows cheatin supports the huns. Over the past few years when a Celtic- hun game has been played while we have been on holiday I’m usually watching or listening to it somehow when I try to explain to someone outside of Scotland that the referee supports one of the teams they actually don’t believe you they say impossible that just wouldn’t be allowed. Only in the bestest wee country in the world eh . F*kin joke is going to be on us because if this game is remotely close cheatin beatin will do enough sly cheatin to make sure his favourites win . Celtic have to blow them away to get a win . Unless cheatin comes down with a flu virus hopefully this weekend.
I agree that Beaton should not be allowed to referee this game.But who else would qualify to officiate?
Are most referees not Rangers inclined anyway?
If there is any bias shown on Sunday win or lose Celtic have to make an official complaint.
We have to remember we live in Scotland.
Nearly forgot about the runt hun Muir on var double blo* dy don’t incoming.
I commented on referee ‘Conflict of Interest’ on this forum before.
‘Conflict of Interest’ policies for referees in the Bundesliga, FIFA, UEFA, the FA in England, the Dutch FA and the SFA states:
Bundesliga
When it comes to conflicts of interest in refereeing, it’s essential to maintain impartiality. Referees should avoid situations where their private interests might interfere with their responsibilities.
FIFA
A perception of a conflict of interest can be just as harmful as an actual conflict. When you identify a conflict-of-interest situation, whether real, potential or perceived, immediately inform your line manager and the FIFA Compliance Division.
UEFA
Match officials undertake to inform UEFA without delay of any potential conflict of interests that they may have in respect of an appointment, including any connection that they may have or have had with a national association, league or club.
Dutch FA
Referees should avoid situations where their personal interests could compromise their impartiality during matches.
Scottish FA
The Scottish FA ‘Football Governance Handbook’ covers various aspects related to Scottish football. It mentions ‘Conflict of Interest’ for referees.
However, there is no guidance or details regarding referee ‘conflict of interest’ included in the handbook.
I personally, do not have an issue with Beaton refereeing a Celtic match, but he should never be allowed to referee a Sevco match.
He shouldn’t be allowed to officiate at any match anywhere.
His incompetence alone should bar him.
Throw in his record of ‘questionable’ decisions, not so ‘honest mistakes’ and his brush with ‘match fixing’
and they all should similarly exclude him.
At this point, this game with it’s historical significance, apropos the Survival Lie, even the perception of conflict of interest or bias should dictate his non involvement in this fixture. The SFA & SPFL have made a ‘rod’ for their own backs on this.
Ah’ve always believed ‘officials’ like beaton, try to be careful enough tae ‘pick’ their moments. Tho that doesnae make them any less corrupt. He knows the outcome of this game on Sunday is bigger than the norm, especially because of one issue in particular. Question is, in a game that has huge ramifications for his favourite club if they lose and he knows he’ll be under scrutiny, will he be prepared tae put what’s left of his ‘professional’ reputation on the line tae help them out ? Ah don’t doubt it. As we know, we’ll need tae dae this ourselves in a way him, or the likes of muir, CAN’T have any excuse for interference and we’ll need tae do it right.
Watched the podcast the last two weeks, excellent airing of the relevant talking points of our particularly unique Scottish Foottballing Landscape.
Just a minor issue, maybe it’s just me or if other viewers can enlighten me regarding watching the Pod via Utube on iPad.
I can’t find any bloody, buttons, controls, icons, signposts for ‘Like’ or ‘Subscribe’.
The problem is, the SFA know Beaton and have decided he’s a good bloke and would never knowingly cheat. They might be right. That’s not the issue.
Here’s what Chat GPT says about it:
Referees in football should not officiate matches involving teams they support due to several important reasons centered on maintaining fairness, impartiality, and the integrity of the sport:
1. Avoiding Bias: Even if a referee strives to be fair, their personal support for a team may subconsciously influence their decisions. This could lead to favoritism or overly harsh treatment of the opposing team.
2. Preserving Fair Competition: The essence of football lies in fair competition. If a referee’s decisions are perceived as influenced by personal biases, it can undermine the competitive balance of the game.
3. Preventing Perceived Conflict of Interest: Even if a referee remains completely impartial, the mere knowledge that they support one of the teams could lead to accusations of bias. This damages the credibility of the referee and the match result.
4. Ensuring Public Trust in the Sport: Fans and stakeholders must trust that decisions made on the field are fair. A referee linked to a team could erode this trust, causing skepticism about the integrity of the match.
5. Avoiding External Pressure: Refereeing a match involving a supported team may subject the referee to undue scrutiny, social pressure, or backlash from fans or media, which can affect their performance and decision-making.
For these reasons, football governing bodies implement strict rules to prevent referees from officiating games involving teams they support or have any personal affiliations with. This ensures the fairness and legitimacy of the sport.
I think the issue for Scottish football is the pool of referees is too small. I can’t remember the exact figures but I’m sure it was a very large % of professional referees were from the central belt & of that most were Glasgow. So immediately you can almost guarantee they will have a leaning either way. Even if they don’t support one of us directly the rivalry of old was so large that everyone who loves football has a preference on which side you prefer.
For me the only solution is to bring in foreign referees. But even then the rivalry is so deep that people would be looking at every minutia of each appointment. Referees from the likes of Italy or Spain would be accused of having a bias for us & likewise England & others would have a bias for them.
The main thing though would be that the alleged bias accusation would be a lot weaker than what we have currently. It’ll never happen as the SFA run us so poorly the association likely couldn’t afford it without subsidy from the clubs & realistically only we would could offer significant funding with minimal impact to the clubs finances.