With the SFA opting for silence following the controversial Hibs v Celtic match on February 22 it has left the way clear for rumours to emerge relating to Alan Muir.
Detail has been very scarce since Brendan Rodgers asked for the evidence to justify the decision to disallow a ‘goal’ from Daizen Maeda that would have levelled the match at 2-2 in the 83rd minute.
On Friday the KMI panel of the SFA voted 4-1 that the goal should have stood but no reasoning was offered.
Today the SFA announced their match officials for the Scottish Cup quarter-finals, for the third set of fixtures since that match at Easter Road Muir was posted missing.
With just three full-time VAR officials the SFA need to be using them as often as possible but for reasons unknown more is required out of Greg Aitken and Andrew Dallas.
The VAR check on the Maeda ‘goal’ took less than two minutes, with no goal-line technology it has been assumed that a guess was made based on a still image from the 18 yard line camera.
Until now it has been assumed that match referee Steven McLean followed instructions from Muir on VAR but perhaps the verdict from Clydesdale House wasn’t as clear cut as has been portrayed.
Allegedly Collum had a senior refs meeting on Thursdays night an let them hear the VAR audio from the Maeda disallowed goal at Easter Road .
Muir “Probably out but can’t be sure” his assistant then says “yeah, probably out”
Why haven’t the public heard an the explanation ?
— Terry O’Neill (@terryoneill67) March 3, 2025
If the audio contains the instruction ‘Probably out but can’t be sure’ then the onus all switches to McLean who ultimately made the decision to restart the match with a goal-kick to Hibs.
In October 2023 a Liverpool ‘goal’ away to Spurs was wrongly disallowed, the clamour for transparency led to the release of audio, the public was shocked at the casual language used which resulted in a Liverpool goal being wrongly disallowed. Spurs restarted quickly with a free-kick without the VAR verdict going through to the match referee.
After that protocols were established, there could be no middle ground, nothing left to interpretation with definite language used to ensure that the right message was given to the match officials.
So far Muir has taken all of the flack for the disallowed Maeda goal, that may not be justified if the rumoured discussion above is confirmed.
The Daily Record reported:
Asked what he’d been told by McLean, Rodgers added: “He just said afterwards that it was a VAR decision, that it was factually out.
“Which will be interesting from the 18-yard line, if you don’t have the actual images. That’s what I’m saying. I don’t want to be overly critical until someone produces an actual piece of evidence that tells us the ball was conclusively out.”
McLean was on VAR duty for Kilmarnock hosting Barry Ferguson’s side last Wednesday then refereed the Dundee v St Johnstone match on Saturday. He has been left out of the four Scottish Cup ties this weekend.
Until Willie Collum produces another VAR Review the issue is going to be the subject of speculation, everything so far this season suggests that Collum is out of his depth as Head of Refereeing at the SFA, he has long running relationships with all of the top whistlers.
The race for the SPFL Premiership title won’t be overly affected by the decision to disallow the Maeda goal but third place could carry a £5m place in the Europa Conference League, those two points could prove invaluable to Hibs.
The longer that the audio from Easter Road is kept secret the more suspicious fans are going to be over the content.
Celtic am sure have their reasons for operating the way they do in the face of institutionalised bias Ah dont know why they they seem tae meekly accept .Ah wish they’d share what the responses tae the questions they pose are.
Ma perception is they are weak an accepting
— Terry O’Neill (@terryoneill67) March 4, 2025
Yep
— Terry O’Neill (@terryoneill67) March 4, 2025
They understand ,but it shows bias trumps protocol.
Doubt is overcome by bias an becomes certainty when you really really don’t want your favourites rivals tae score— Terry O’Neill (@terryoneill67) March 4, 2025
Am psychic
— Terry O’Neill (@terryoneill67) March 4, 2025
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