In the week that Alan Tait was removed from the VAR list another incident has put the integrity of Scotland’s match officials under the microscope. Daizen Maeda was again the victim.
Whether you are winning or losing 4-1 the same Laws of the Game apply, whether an incident is in the first or last minute makes no difference.
Leading 4-1 against Kilmarnock approaching half time some great play down the right opened up another chance for Celtic, when Reo Hatate was denied the ball broke to Maeda who took one touch then drilled it into the net.
There had been no VAR issues in any of the five previous goals but in this instance it was called into play.
Not for the first time it ruled against Celtic with the evidence offered to overturn the on pitch decision far from conclusive.
The VAR line on Idah ends at the front of his shoulder, on the Kilmarnock player it disappears into his armpit.
There are three areas open to interpretation in these incidents, or human error to be more accurate when VAR is involved.
- The moment that the picture is frozen when the ball is played, there is a small period between the ball being struck and when it leaves the players foot.
- What part of the players body is used as the part closest to goal. There are claims about the T-shirt line which is less clear cut than the head or foot/toe.
- Projecting the lines down onto the pitch then applying thick red and blue lines to back up the decision taken.
Managers love to say that football is a game of fine margins, almost always after a draw or defeat.
With three areas of error Sky Sports and the SFA are treating fans and viewers as mugs by judging on those areas then presenting thick coloured lines as their evidence and justification.
The same supporters watched UEFA matches in midweek, they see the level of technology applied. 3-D images are provided, one line is drawn and the outcome is easy to understand.
Except for viewers, and fans in Scotland.
The Kilmarnock match is the third time this season that less than convincing evidence has been put forward to disallow a ‘goal’ for Celtic.
In September Andrew Dallas and Graeme Stewart were on VAR duty when Kyogo appeared to give Celtic an early goal in the Glasgow Derby. The squiggly lines came out, the game restarted goal-less.
Away to Motherwell at the end of October Celtic were leading 2-1 when Tom Sparrow put the ball in his own net. Alan Muir and Gary Hilland were on VAR duty and conjured up the dubious lines to disallow the goal for an earlier offside.
Against Kilmarnock on Saturday it was Gavin Duncan and Hilland again who were on duty to disallow the Maeda ‘goal’.
Celtic in common with other Premiership clubs that fund VAR from their SPFL prize money seem perfectly happy to pay out for what are effectively subjective decisions.
The Idah offside call was exceptionally close, in a UEFA match with proper VAR almost all fans will accept the decision as correct, everything possible has been done to get the right outcome.
The same can’t be said for SPFL Premiership matches, Alan Muir exposed the whole set up, he was given a full time job by Willie Collum less than a year ago and failed to see out the season.
Unless an automated system is brought in VAR can’t be trusted on offside calls, when they freeze the image and start to manually draw lines the ball is truly burst.
NOTE: The SFA has made no comment on Muir, all that we have is a report from Stephen McGowan in The Herald that Muir has been taken off VAR duty and is being used as a Referee Observer.
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There is so much room for error by manually placing the lines. On a similar point they freeze the frame manually also. Check where the ball is. It has already been struck and moving forward meaning in that time n that stopped frame, Idah could easily move 2 inches forward
— Firhill (@Firhill40) April 12, 2025
That’s a piece of nonsense and said it numerous times. He’s not even near the red drawn line and the Killie player behind is playing him onside……made up lines by VaR.
— CMac (@CMack659) April 12, 2025
Inner shoulder v outer shoulder? VAR lines and Specsavers as sponsors…
— Alfa6409 (@Alfa6409) April 12, 2025
Back in the days before VAR this is what’s called as level, attacking team gets the benefit of the doubt. Football and sport in general isn’t always black and white
— ANGRYDA (@Angry_Dad__) April 13, 2025
Idah from the extreme outside of the tip of his shoulder. Defender from the inside of his, so you can’t differentiate between line and jersey.
— Paul (@PaulTMcConkey) April 13, 2025
