In the big picture, the decisions made by the SFA’s Key Match Incident panel don’t really matter. After all, it’s only the opinion of a small group of people who have experienced the rules.
However, the majority opinion stated Wednesday that VAR made a mistake and that Celtic’s last-minute penalty at Motherwell on the second-to-last day of the season simply puts more pressure on referee Willie Collum and his staff.
In particular, they felt that whistler Steven McLean, who was rewarded for his services with yesterday’s Scottish Cup final, made a mistake the previous week when he failed to award Hearts a penalty at Fir Park for a blatant foul on Alexandros Kyziridis.
Hearts would have won the Premiership if those choices had been made correctly. Video replays were available for both. And in the midst of all the other commotion and teeth-gnashing, the magnitude of this cannot be overlooked.
The questionable choices that cost Hearts the title will be addressed in Willie Collum’s VAR review.
When referees make judgments that alter league titles, should they be held accountable?
This has nothing to do with Celtic conspiracy ideas. It has nothing to do with whether or not officials sound the whistle during a pitch invasion. It has to do with referees making decisions about league titles that the vast majority of people simply don’t understand.
Collum’s next VAR Review, which must undoubtedly air later this week, must have that as its main focus. He reportedly told Derek McInnes, the manager of Hearts, that McLean was mistaken, thus it might be helpful to know why he was in control at Hampden.
However, the show cannot simply be an admission of additional mistakes. It must include some sort of road map for the game’s future and explain why a disorganized VAR campaign can’t work out this way once more.
If not, the doubts about his future will simply grow. It’s time to add the popcorn.
