GOOD NEWS TO CELTICS FC : VAR REVIEW ON HEART VS CELTIC MATCH HAS BROUGHT ABOUT THE CANCELLATION OF ……
The refereeing team got BOTH penalty decisions wrong in the Celtic vs Hearts game which saw Brendan Rodgers pick up a suspension.
The Hoops boss was incensed after watching his ten-man side lose 2-0 to the Jambos at Tynecastle. After missing an early penalty of their own, the Hoops lost Yang to a red card for a high boot challenge on Alex Cochrane, catching the defender in the face with his boot.
The home side then got their own spot kick, a very contentious one after Tomoki Iwata was adjudged to have handballed despite clearly knowing nothing about it and the ball first ricocheting off teammate Alistair Johnston. Rodgers was fuming with the calls and singled out VAR John Beaton but branded the whole officiating team “incompetent”.
That earned him an SFA charge and subsequently a one-match suspension for bringing the game into disrepute by questioning the officials’ competence.
Now, the Independent VAR Independent Review Panel (IRP) have made clear what they thought of the incidents. The panel ruled that 26 VAR errors have been made this season, a further 13 since the last review. And they’ve made the information on ten of them available to clubs.
That Hearts-Celtic game at Tynecastle is included and there is no mention of the Yang red, indicating there was no issue with the outcome.
However, both penalties have been highlighted as mistakes. The panel ruled that Don Robertson was WRONG to have awarded a penalty for a challenge on Yang by Cochrane and that VAR should have intervened with the final result being no spot kick.
While they said that Robertson was in fact correct to not award Hearts a penalty for Iwata’s ‘handball’ and that Beaton should not have recommended a review.
Meanwhile, it has also been ruled that Rangers’ Dujon Sterling should NOT have been sent off against Aberdeen while Hearts benefited from an incorrect spot kick against Hibs.
Errors shared with Premiership clubs
Rangers 2-1 Aberdeen (6/02/24): VAR intervention was correct, but final outcome should have been yellow card to Rangers’ Dujon Sterling. Referee retained his on-field decision of a red card.
St Mirren 2-0 Dundee (7/02/24): VAR intervention was correct, but final outcome should have been yellow card to St Mirren’s James Bolton. Referee retained his on-field decision of a red card.
Ross County 1-1 St Mirren (27/2/24): VAR should have recommended an on-field review. Final outcome should have been penalty awarded against Ross County for handball.
Hearts 1-1 Hibernian (28/2/24): VAR intervention correct, but penalty decision, which led to Hearts’ equaliser, should have been overturned – no foul and no penalty should have been awarded.
Kilmarnock 1-2 Rangers (28/2/24): VAR should have recommended an on-field review. Final outcome should have been penalty decision, which led to Kilmarnock opening the scoring, overturned – no handball offense against Rangers.
Hearts 2-0 Celtic (3/3/24): VAR should have recommended an on-field review. Penalty decision should have been overturned – no foul and no penalty should have been awarded to Celtic.
Hearts 2-0 Celtic (3/3/24): On-field decision correct, no penalty to Hearts. Handball should not have been awarded for spot-kick that led to opening goal.
