Scottish FA Panel – VAR Alan Muir wrong to disallow Maeda goal at Easter Road

The Celtic Star

·28 février 2025

Scottish FA Panel – VAR Alan Muir wrong to disallow Maeda goal at Easter Road

The Scottish FA KMI Panel outcomes on key decisions in matches played last weekend has now been released and it covers Celtic’s trip to Easter Road last Saturday where a second Daizen goal in the game was disallowed due to a ‘factual’ intervention by Alan Muir on VAR duties…

Brendan Rodgers. Hibs v Celtic. 22 February 2025.Photo: Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Brendan Rodgers and the Celtic bench were adamant that the goal should have been awarded and that both the referee and linesman had made the correct on-field decision – a view that has been supported on a 4-1 basis by the panel members.

Vidéos OneFootball

Brendan Rodgers suggested that Muir had simply guessed that the ball was out because it was impossible to determine one way of the other using the camera footage from the 18 yard line. The Celtic manager reckoned that the lineman had the best view of all and had kept his flag down, believing that the ball had remained in play.

Muir’s embarrassment was worsened the following day when Hibs Vlogger released footage from a much better touchline angle and from that it was impossible to say that the ball was out of play. It’s not known if that footage was viewed by the five members of the Scottish FA KMI Panel as it may have satisfied the one member who supported Muir’s guess work.

Curiously as we reported earlier Brendan Rodgers said today that he has NOT had a telephone call from Willie Collum but Dundee United have confirmed that the Head of Referees has called them about their own issues with the faltering VAR operation which seems to be floundering on low grade equipment and an even worse standard of personnel.

Here’s what the Scottish FA Panel Outcomes report. (PS they also said that Hibs should NOT have had a penalty).

The majority (4:1) of the panel deemed the on-field decision of goal to be correct. They felt the factual VAR intervention for the ball being out of play was incorrect. One panel member felt VAR was correct to intervene as they belived (sic) one of the angles showed the ball out of play.

Photo: Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Alan Muir needed to have evidence to change the on-field decision and that was clearly not available to him. Brendan Rodgers said he had taken a guess and the Celtic manager has been shown to be 100% correct in that assessment. Muir’s position in the game is now untenable. It’s now up to Willie Collum to fire him once and for all.

Celtic should be getting the audio tape and Willie Collum should let us hear what was said in his VAR Review video.