Statement: The Scottish Senior Football Referees' Association

[ian1964 10,721]

Scottish referees' union 'condemns' questioning of officials' integrity following derby controversy

The Scottish referees' union "strongly condemn any commentary impugning" the integrity of officials.

The Scottish Senior Football Referees' Association adds that "speculation surrounding the future appointment of referees" is "deeply unhelpful".

The statement follows a meeting between the Scottish FA and Rangers, who had asked for the audio from an Old Firm derby VAR ruling, while the governing body rejected a suggestion that Willie Collum be kept from officiating on future games involving the Ibrox club.

Collum was the video assistant referee at Celtic Park on 30 December.

Rangers said the "overriding consensus" in their meeting with head of referee operations Crawford Allan was the decision of no handball against Celtic's Alistair Johnston was wrong.

The SFA replied that they were "disappointed" with Rangers' comments and urged the club to show "greater responsibility".

The governing body went on to say they "immediately rejected" requests relating to Collum detailed in a social media post from what they call a "recent official media partner" of Rangers.

• SFA 'disappointed' with Rangers in VAR row

During the derby, which Celtic won 2-1, Rangers' Abdallah Sima was assessed to be in an offside position in the build-up to the penalty appeal, but Rangers insist this was not discussed by referee Nick Walsh and Collum.

The SFA described the incident as a subjective handball and not a clear and obvious error that required review, pointing out that if there had been a review the offside would have been identified.

The SSFRA welcomed "the clarification provided by the Scottish FA in relation to the recent Celtic v. Rangers match and, in particular, the confirmation that the supplementary offside pictures were provided by the Scottish FA to assist the media broadcasters and not at the instigation of the VAR or as part of the VAR decision making process at the time of the incident".

And they added: "We wish to reiterate our full support for the VAR and on-field officials and strongly condemn any commentary impugning their integrity.

"We also note speculation surrounding the future appointment of referees. Such requests from any clubs are deeply unhelpful and we endorse the Scottish FA in categorically rejecting any suggestion that clubs will influence match official appointments."

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67901742

[Fa1833 224]

16 minutes ago, ian1964 said:

Scottish referees' union 'condemns' questioning of officials' integrity following derby controversy

The Scottish referees' union "strongly condemn any commentary impugning" the integrity of officials.

The Scottish Senior Football Referees' Association adds that "speculation surrounding the future appointment of referees" is "deeply unhelpful".

The statement follows a meeting between the Scottish FA and Rangers, who had asked for the audio from an Old Firm derby VAR ruling, while the governing body rejected a suggestion that Willie Collum be kept from officiating on future games involving the Ibrox club.

Collum was the video assistant referee at Celtic Park on 30 December.

Rangers said the "overriding consensus" in their meeting with head of referee operations Crawford Allan was the decision of no handball against Celtic's Alistair Johnston was wrong.

The SFA replied that they were "disappointed" with Rangers' comments and urged the club to show "greater responsibility".

The governing body went on to say they "immediately rejected" requests relating to Collum detailed in a social media post from what they call a "recent official media partner" of Rangers.

• SFA 'disappointed' with Rangers in VAR row

During the derby, which Celtic won 2-1, Rangers' Abdallah Sima was assessed to be in an offside position in the build-up to the penalty appeal, but Rangers insist this was not discussed by referee Nick Walsh and Collum.

The SFA described the incident as a subjective handball and not a clear and obvious error that required review, pointing out that if there had been a review the offside would have been identified.

The SSFRA welcomed "the clarification provided by the Scottish FA in relation to the recent Celtic v. Rangers match and, in particular, the confirmation that the supplementary offside pictures were provided by the Scottish FA to assist the media broadcasters and not at the instigation of the VAR or as part of the VAR decision making process at the time of the incident".

And they added: "We wish to reiterate our full support for the VAR and on-field officials and strongly condemn any commentary impugning their integrity.

"We also note speculation surrounding the future appointment of referees. Such requests from any clubs are deeply unhelpful and we endorse the Scottish FA in categorically rejecting any suggestion that clubs will influence match official appointments."

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67901742

That’s us told then isn’t it, I think it’s  time for the people ie us to make a stand what else is going to be next ? As we all know there’s going to be something that happens and we can’t do nothing about it. 

[ian1964 10,721]

 

[Scott7 6,002]

Big cop out. Very few people’s work is free from scrutiny. Get it right and nobody will moan at you. Admit when you’re wrong and the moaning doesn’t disappear but it’s considerably reduced.

[ian1964 10,721]

 

[Malangsob 1,264]

 

 

2 hours ago, ian1964 said:

Scottish referees' union 'condemns' questioning of officials'

Funny word 'Official'.

Been around since the 13th century. 

Initial definitions used words like 'zealous, attentive, eager, service, kindness, favor' or the 'performance of a service'.

It has apparently morphed into something more akin to omnipotent, deific, or infallible. 

I said it on here before, they don't like Rangers, they don't care about Rangers, they want Rangers dead and gone. 

That's not just the SFA, that's all the other teams too.

Screw me once, shame on me...

What are Rangers at...#500?

 

BOHICA!

[Fa1833 224]

3 hours ago, ian1964 said:

impugning

impugning ie to call into question so there for our decision is final, it’s only going to get worse over time ie next few weeks especially when fixtures start ramping up, I can’t wait to see what happens to the Everton appeal, I know it’s a Red card incident but still Everton has logged an appeal. 
 

 

 

Controversial Decisions: Despite its intention to improve accuracy, VAR has led to contentious decisions. Players, managers, and fans have expressed frustration when goals are disallowed or awarded based on fine margins, often involving offside calls or subjective judgments1.

Technical Limitations:

Frame Rate and Resolution: The cameras used in VAR sometimes struggle to keep up with fast movements, resulting in blurred images of players or the ball. This limitation can impact the accuracy of decisions2.

First Point of Contact: VAR relies on cameras capturing the exact moment of play. However, determining the “first point of contact” (e.g. for offside decisions) isn’t always straightforward. The technology’s 50 frames per second may not always align precisely with critical moments3.

Subjectivity and Consistency:

Referee Interpretation: VAR decisions still involve human judgment. Referees interpret incidents differently, leading to inconsistencies in how VAR is applied across matches.

Emotional Impact: VAR’s intervention can alter the emotional dynamics of a game. Celebrations are cut short, and goals are disallowed after lengthy reviews, affecting players and fans alike.

Reduced Excitement: While fans now witness VAR decisions on screens, almost half believe that its introduction has made football less exciting. The anticipation of celebrating a goal has been dampened by the uncertainty of VAR reviews1.

In summary, while VAR aims to enhance fairness, its flaws highlight the delicate balance between precision and preserving the spirit of the game. Football continues to grapple with finding the right balance in leveraging technology without compromising the essence of the sport. 

Edited January 7 by Fa1833

[Sutton_blows_goats 5,329]

So every time they have done it it’s fine, every time they made comment about it at an agm it’s fine. When they let a wee fat oddball make a documentary about at thier stadium featuring ex players and a club ambassador it was fine?

[ian1964 10,721]

 

[der Berliner 3,744]

Not surprising that the BBC quote said that Sima was in an offside position, yet ignored (probably like the SFA) that this position was no longer important under current rules when the handball was committed.

 

As with the Kilmarnock game when the latter received no penalty for a blatant foul, Maeda's foul on Cantwell, wrong offside calls for Roofe, the penalty given against Souttar, lack of red cards, etc -  there clearly are problems with the use of VAR in certain games, the quality of judgement, and the bias towards a certain team.* Not that this comes as a surprise. Obviously, the clan of Scottish officials is a small one and as people don't change much, it has been and is an in-house problem. No wonder that their association (clan chiefs and mouthpieces) "protects" their own. 

 

* As that team has had a bad time of late, like in seasons before, they get help from the officials - be it the men in black with whistle or monitor, or some shadowy figures called "compliance officer", who (wonder of wonders) has not been heard off after all the damage they did to our campaigns a few seasons back. (Maybe one should not give them any ideas ... ). The amount of recent help by the men in black springs you in the face and to deny that means that the "referee association" is complicit in this.