Exclusive: Scottish VAR hailed after Celtic denied penalty vs Hibernian
Keith Hackett has praised the use of VAR in Scotland after Celtic were denied a penalty during their win over Hibernian.
The former PGMOL chief and ex-FIFA official exclusively told Football Insider that Brendan Rodgers’ side were rightly not awarded a spot kick after a check for handball against Hibs wideman Nicky Cadden.
Celtic have of course already wrapped up the Premiership title in Scotland for another season, although they are still going to want to end the campaign on a high.
That comes after some mixed recent results had led to speculation around a return to the Premier League for manager Brendan Rodgers.
On Saturday (10 May), they were able to come from behind to pick up a victory against Hibernian, despite being denied the chance to level from the spot.
Nicky Cadden survives handball appeals
Celtic had fallen behind to their visitors at Parkhead in that match, with Martin Boyle opening the scoring after 25 minutes.
As the hosts then went in search of an equaliser, they may have felt they should have had the chance to do that with a penalty.
With Daizen Maeda receiving the ball inside the Hibs penalty area, his first touch bounced up and into the hand of Cadden at close range.
| Celtic last five games | Result |
| Kilmarnock (H) | Won 5-1 |
| St Johnstone (N) | Won 5-0 |
| Dundee United (A) | Won 5-0 |
| Rangers (A) | Drew 1-1 |
| Hibernian (H) | Won 3-1 |
That prompted appeals for a penalty from Celtic, and although the incident was checked by VAR, no spot kick was awarded.
While there has been plenty of scrutiny on officiating in Scotland this season, Hackett has praised that the video officials for their decision not to intervene on this occasion.
Celtic rightly see penalty claims ignored
After being asked by Football Insider what he made of this call not to award a penalty to Celtic, Hackett said:
“I think they got it right. I must admit the VAR in Scotland is working quite well. I think their judgement coming into play is pretty good, so I’m not giving a penalty.”
Goals from Nicolas Kuhn, Adam Idah and Reo Hatate would then facilitate a turnaround for Rodgers‘ side to ensure they claimed three more points at the top of the table.
Next up for Celtic is a league clash with Aberdeen on Wednesday (14 May), in what will be a dress rehearsal for the Scottish Cup final at the end of this month.