The Paradox of VAR: Why Celtic Fans Must Be Careful What They Wish For
Celtic’s recent run of three straight defeats has temporarily diverted focus from some controversial refereeing decisions during two earlier September fixtures - moments that once again placed the use of VAR in Scottish football under intense scrutiny. Some sections of the support have even claimed we would be better off without it entirely. I disagree.
There is no getting away from it: the version of VAR utilised in Scottish football looks like something sourced from the Barras. It is an embarrassment. However, Celtic fans who push for its total removal should be careful what they wish for.
The recent match in Paisley witnessed several dubious decisions, including a two-handed shove on Liam Scales that looked suspiciously like a denied Celtic penalty. Added to that, a delay to the start of the second half due to communication problems with the VAR headset left both teams waiting impatiently on the pitch. But it was the use of the technology to deny Celtic two goals that really got fans talking.
The core issue is that Scotland has such a rudimentary VAR infrastructure in place that real doubt clouds the veracity of close decisions. In a nutshell, the officials choose which frame to freeze. In a tight offside call, a single frame's difference can move a player from offside to onside. This was almost certainly the case with the disallowed Camilo Durán goal, where even the Sky Sports commentary team felt he looked onside. Furthermore, television viewers saw a completely different image from the one used by Don Robertson to draw the lines. This reveals the frailty of subjective choice in a process meant to be fully factual.
Worse was to follow. Later in the game, young Celtic substitute Shim Mheuka looked to have scored his first senior goal. Then came the inevitable check. Robertson called referee Ryan Lee to the monitor. Incredibly, technical limitations made it impossible to draw the usual lines. In effect, Lee had to use his own judgement to guess whether the player was offside. He guessed "no goal," leaving Celtic to survive a nervy final few minutes. Surely, when VAR is unable to provide definitive proof, the on-field decision should stand?
In a sense, I have some sympathy for the officials. The offside rule itself should have been modernised with the advent of VAR. The spirit of the law is to prevent "goal-hanging" and unfair advantages. It is hard to argue that a player gains a material advantage because their knee or a fraction of their boot is deemed offside. Surely the attacking player
should be rewarded. If there were ‘daylight’ between players to be offside this would
aid officials and attacking play, with fans enjoying more goals and enduring shorter
VAR delays through checks. No doubt some will say that it would make little
difference because you have to draw the line somewhere, which is true. But if there
is daylight you are definitely gaining an advantage - in other words, you are undeniably offside.
I understand the frustration with VAR. It has robbed us of the sheer, unbridled joy of celebrating a goal with total abandon. There’s always that fear that the wee people in the VAR room are going over the video as if it’s the Zapruder footage, looking for any possible reason to disallow a goal. The delays and the lack of stadium communication are abysmal. It undeniably sucks the joy out of matchday.
However, consider where we would be without it. Quite simply, Celtic would have
been robbed of a richly deserved championship last season. Despite the clamour
and noise last season claiming Celtic were the establishment club (no sniggering at
the back, please) running the SFA and benefitting from biased decision making, two
calls on the field would have cost Celtic the league in the last two matches of the
season.
Despite ex-crisps salesman Gary Lineker’s claims of witnessing “possibly the worst
VAR decision” he’d seen, backed up by failed Heart’s manager Derek McInnes who
labelled it “disgusting”, Celtic’s last gasp win at Fir Park through a penalty awarded
by VAR was entirely justified. It reminded me of the famous scene in the movie
“Misery” where Kathy Bates recalls watching “Rocketman” and was livid because
people refused to believe the evidence of their own eyes.
We were constantly being told by the mainstream media - Sky Sports ‘experts’ such
as Kris Boyd, John Robertson and Paul Hartley - that the ball could not have struck
the hand of Motherwell’s Sam Nicholson - despite the pictures and video clearly
showing it did. Lest we forget, referee John Beaton, conscious of the drink waiting for
him in the Crown Bar in Bellshill, awarded Motherwell a throw in. One can only
imagine his horror when the boy Dallas on VAR called him over to review the penalty
incident, which in truth could just as easily have been awarded for Nicholson’s elbow
to Auston Trusty’s head.
A few days later, in front of a packed Celtic Park, the league could easily have gone
to Hearts due to the ‘incompetence’ of officials when, with only minutes remaining,
Daizen Maeda struck to put Celtic ahead 2-1 and, finally, on top of the league, only
for the celebrations to be cut short by the offside flag from an assistant referee.
Thankfully, VAR clearly demonstrated that the goal was yards onside. Without it, this
awful call would have cost Celtic their rightful league championship. The upside was
that I got to celebrate the goal twice - but the wait was excruciating.
Furthermore, remember when VAR was first introduced in October 2022? It was
chaotic. There were many bizarre decisions. It was after several of these in a match
at Tynecastle in March 2024 that the then Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers questioned
the competence of VAR official John Beaton (yes, him again) claiming that the match
was effectively being re-refereed amid “really poor officiating.” Rodgers was duly
charged by the SFA. Rodgers appealed, tooled up with the best lawyers Celtic (or
big Dermot Desmond) could muster and had his punishment reduced.
Interestingly, Crawford Allan, then Head of Refereeing in Scotland, resigned shortly
afterwards at the end of the season after four years amid mounting criticism over the
officiating in Scotland since the introduction of VAR. Alan Morrison of Huddle
Breakdown and Celtic By Numbers had revealed statistical anomalies in officiating decisions as to offer a pattern of assistance benefitting only one side under Crawford
Allan’s tenure. Yes, you’ve guessed it, The Rangers.
Allen’s replacement, Willie Collum, has seen much in the way of controversy, but no
discernible patterns of assistance for one club. In essence, this is what one could
expect. Collum's VAR review show on television and online (or “Willie Watch” as Alan
Morrison likes to call it) has shone a light on refereeing in Scotland. We can hear the
audio conversations between officials as well as watching the video. This has been
illuminating (and at times alarming). In essence, Collum's approach of Glasnost and
Perestroika is most welcome.
Officials who may have demonstrated unconscious bias, or just pure bias, are
presumably more reflective. No one wants to be admonished or revealed on 'Willie
Watch!' One need only look to the case of VAR official Alan Muir who 'stepped
down' after the audio and video of him desperately - and successfully - arguing for a
Daizen Maeda goal at Easter Road in February 2025 to be disallowed despite
inconclusive evidence to do so, as a warning to his brother officials.
In summary, I am as frustrated by the inadequacies of VAR as anyone, but as last
season proved, Celtic need it more than any other club. Our biggest potential rivals
benefitted from proven patterns of assistance over a prolonged period. At least now
we have someone in charge of refereeing who is not part of the old boys network.
That may explain the attacks on Collum by some within the Ibrox Club and their
friends in mainstream media. I guess a level playing field feels like you’re
disadvantaged when you’re used to having benefitted from a rigged system. The use
of VAR and the transparency in decision making is to everyone’s benefit in the long
term. Except The Rangers, of course.
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