Craig Thomson broke protocol by refusing to speak with BT...

[ian1964 10,724]

...prior to St Johnstone versus Celtic clash.

 

REFEREE Thomson was said to be "fuming" following BT Sport's Chris Sutton's criticism of him after he failed to send off Rangers' Harry Forrester.

 

RAGING referee Craig Thomson refused to co-operate with BT Sport staff before starting Celtic’s live TV game more than a minute ahead of schedule.

 

Record Sport can reveal that Thomson - known to be “fuming” that our columnist Chris Sutton branded him a bottler during a previous BT broadcast - snubbed approaches by television staff before Saturday’s clash with St Johnstone.

 

The angry broadcasters - who, together with Sky Sports, pump £15million a year into the Scottish game - have written to the SFA demanding an explanation why Thomson ignored usual protocol that sees broadcasters, referees and teams work together to ensure live action doesn’t clash with commercial breaks.

 

In normal circumstances the referee will only start a live match with the floor manager’s approval and also meet with TV staff before the game to clarify basic details such as timings and the names of his fellow officials.

 

But we can reveal that Thomson refused to speak to BT production staff when approached shortly after his arrival at McDiarmid Park and made it clear there would be no co-operation from him or his assistants.

 

While Thomson gave no reason for this unusual step, sources within the SFA confirmed that he’s fuming at the “personal vitriol” of Sutton’s comments during the previous week’s live match between Rangers and Dundee.

 

Sutton described Thomson as a bottler for not sending off Gers player Harry Forrester for a rash tackle.

 

Initially stunned at the official’s belligerence, broadcasters were then frustrated when Thomson went on to start the game five seconds early - and, crucially, without waiting for an indication from the floor manager that they were ready to broadcast.

 

Anticipating a further problem for the second half, BT cut short their studio analysis just in time to catch Thomson restarting the action one minute and 15 seconds ahead of the broadcaster’s schedule.

 

After the game BT staff were also unable to follow the usual protocol of confirming with the referee the cautions he had issued during the match - while Sutton took to Twitter to question Thomson’s reason for the premature kick-off.

 

Now BT have officially demanded an explanation from the SFA, who yesterday refused to comment to RecordSport .

 

While domestic viewers did not miss a kick of Saturday’s 4-2 win for the Hoops due to them cutting short the half-time studio chat in anticipation of an issue, it could have posed a serious issue for international broadcasters taking their live feed.

 

A television production source explained: “Kick-off times are imperative, not only for domestic broadcasters but also worldwide.

 

“For example a commercial broadcaster in China would base their adverts on kick-off times so normally at half-time you’d have two commercial breaks to take, about five minutes long each.

 

"Kicking off late isn’t a problem but if a referee goes early then most likely you’re still on commercials.

 

"That didn’t happen to BT because they guessed that’s what the referee might so they just came back from the ads early.

 

“Whether broadcasters around the world would be so lucky, is less certain.

 

“The usual system of taking the floor manager’s cues leading into kick-offs should be foolproof - but it doesn’t work when someone ignores or simply refuses to adhere to it.

 

“BT have every right to ask for an explanation of the reasons why that didn’t happen.”

 

However, Referee Craig Thomson can leave rows over diving and early kick-off times behind him this week after being appointed to handle a Champions League Play-off game in Austria.

 

Thomson booked Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths during the Parkhead club’s 4-2 win at St Johnstone at the weekend for simulation with the Scotland cap adamant that there was contact and the whistler also received criticism for starting the second half too early for TV company BT Sport who were broadcasting the game live.

 

These incidents will be forgotten about as Thomson looks after the Second Leg tie between FC Red Bull Salzburg and Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday night with the score tied at 1-1 for last week’s first meeting.

 

Thomson will be assisted by assistant referees David McGeachie and Alan Mulvanny, Fourth Official Stuart Stevenson as well as additional assistant referees Kevin Clancy and Andrew Dallas.

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/craig-thomson-broke-protocol-refusing-8685255

[ian1964 10,724]

Brilliant coming from the biggest cheat ever to play in Scottish football,quickly followed by Larsson & Sutton, never forget he called the whole Dunfermline team cheats when his team failed to do the business!, will we see another refs strike?,the last one was caused by C****c!,always cheated never defeated!.

Edited August 23, 2016 by ian1964

[MacK1950 2,378]

Players on the park ready to play so the referee starts game he's in charge.If broadcaster wants to rule see that players have tv in dressing room then whinging presenterCS can instruct them to make way to pitch:wanker:

[the gunslinger 3,366]

Hope he gets sacked

[Uilleam 5,948]

Hope he gets sacked

 

Thomson, or Sutton?

Both would be a result.