John Beaton has been the subject of a second Celtic statement in just over five years following the SPFL defeat to Hearts at Tynecastle.
Following an incredible display at Ibrox in December 2018 Celtic brought out a lengthy statement appealing for transparency which was completely ignored by the SFA but took the pressure away from the Celtic board who had sat in silence as Alfredo Morelos committed a variety of attacks on Scott Brown, Tony Ralston and Ryan Christie.
For extra impact the Colombian striker celebrated his attack on Ralston on Instagram.
Yesterday Beaton had a secondary, support role as the VAR, on duty in a studio in Glasgow taking a second look at the incidents from Tynecastle.
Twice he prompted Don Robertson to review incidents on the pitchside monitor, the match referee followed those recommendations both times with Yang Hyun-jun sent off and a penalty awarded against Tomoki Iwata.
After the match Brendan Rodgers was very specific as he called out the incompetence of Beaton on those calls, surprisingly Celtic issued a statement 26 hours after the final whistle at Tynecastle:
Celtic Football Club can confirm that it will be appealing the red card issued to Hyunjun Yang during Sunday’s match against Hearts at Tynecastle.
We have also written to the SFA to raise our serious concerns regarding the use of VAR and the decisions made within the match.
As we have said before, for some time Celtic has sought to work with the footballing authorities with the aim of improving standards associated with refereeing and the use of VAR in Scotland, something which is clearly in the wider interests of everyone within the game.
With an appeal on the red card to be heard by the SFA and the near certainty of Rodgers getting a disrepute charge this issue isn’t going to fade away.
Having missed out on the last six Glasgow Derbies Beaton looked like a very strong candidate for the April 7 match at Ibrox, as the issues from Tynecastle rumble on through March it looks like that idea will have to be shelved.
Beaton has a long track record for strange decisions made in Celtic matches with the Morelos incidents in December 2018 the other stand out in his career.
On Friday 4 January 2019, six days after the match Celtic were embarrassed into commenting on Beaton’s performance in the match at Ibrox:
Celtic Football Club is surprised that there will be no disciplinary action taken by the Scottish FA regarding the incidents during the match on December 29, which have been widely addressed in the media.
It is reported that no action was taken because the match referee saw all of the incidents in question.
Given that the referee took no action at the time, this tends to suggest that such conduct, which in one instance led to a Celtic player, Anthony Ralston, being injured, is acceptable in Scottish football. That cannot be right.
On the day, Celtic did not play well enough to win the match, something we accept.
However, this issue goes beyond the result of the match.
Celtic is not the only club this season to raise concerns regarding the standard of officiating at matches in Scotland, concerns which have also been shared by many commentators on the game.
In order to fully understand what is going on, Celtic, our supporters, Scottish clubs and the general Scottish football public need transparency in these matters, and we therefore call on the Scottish FA to allow the referee, John Beaton, to explain these decisions publicly as well as any match officials involved in other similar circumstances.
In the meantime, we have requested a meeting with Scottish FA Chief Executive, Ian Maxwell, and the Association’s Head of Refereeing.
Typically after that bold statement Peter Lawwell fell silent, there was no follow up. Questioned at the 2019 AGM the former CEO said that the issue had been resolved without giving any details.
No changes were made to procedures, no disciplinary action was taken against Morelos with Beaton’s career going from strength to strength, refereeing the 2020 and 2023 Scottish Cup Finals.
Statements mean very little unless they are followed up with obvious consequences, Celtic fans are watching carefully for the follow up to the events of Tynecastle with Michael Nicholson being held responsible.
CLICK HERE for the post match interview on Sky Sports.
CLICK HERE for That Cost Us Today- Rodgers on Beaton.
CLICK HERE for SSB caller claims Lawwell is better than Larsson.
