Celtic victims of major injustice as VAR claim issued - Ex-Premier League referee

Refereeing Consultant AUTHORITY Former FIFA Referee; Head of PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited). FOCUS Laws of the Game, VAR implementation, officiating performance, and PGMOL policy. THE AUDIT Keith utilises Statscore’s Officiating Telemetry, including Deep-Data Metrics like Incident Accuracy Rates, VAR Intervention Latency, and Official Positional Efficiency. He provides technical refereeing analysis to reveal the regulatory reality behind match-defining decisions.

Published on:

22 Mar 2022, 1:30 am

Celtic would have had a second penalty for handball in their 4-0 win over Ross County if VAR was in operation, according to Keith Hackett.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-Fifa and Premier League referee claimed the officials had no chance of spotting Regan Charles-Cook's handball.

As shown on Sportscene, Charles-Cook extended his right arm out to control the ball inside the Ross County penalty area but he had his back to the referee.

Celtic were eventually awarded a penalty moments later when Alex Iacovitti was adjudged to have handled the ball when challenging for a header.

Giorgos Giakoumakis converted from the spot to complete his second hat-trick in his last two Celtic appearances.

"The one that's given, the referee is in the right position and made the judgement," Hackett said after analysing the footage with Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley.

"Defenders have to watch their arms. He's moaning but it's handball, he's got his arm up. He's unlucky but that's the law.

"The one that wasn't given, one of the things that VAR will do is hopefully resolve these types of issues.

"On the face of it, this incident is not going to be seen by the match officials. This shows the weakness of not having VAR.

"If the referee is afforded another look at that I'm sure he would have awarded a penalty kick. His arm is outstretched and his body shape is bigger, that's a penalty."

Celtic's victory keeps them three points above Rangers in the Scottish Premiership.

The two sides meet at Ibrox when the league returns following the international break (2 April).

In other news, a Celtic 27-year-old has been told to find a new club.

Celtic