Brendan Rodgers has challenged the lack of clear evidence behind Celtic’s disallowed equaliser in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Hibernian, after VAR ruled that Alistair Johnston’s cross had gone out of play before Daizen Maeda found the net.
Rodgers revealed that referee Steven McLean told him after the match that VAR had deemed the ball was “factually out” of play, but the Celtic boss remains unconvinced given the camera angles available.
“He [McLean] just said afterwards that it was a VAR decision, that it was factually out,” Rodgers explained, as quoted by RecordSport.
“Which will be interesting from the 18-yard line, if you don’t have the actual images. That’s what I’m saying, I don’t want to be overly critical until someone produces an actual piece of evidence that tells us the ball was conclusively out.”
The Scottish FA’s Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel will review the controversial decision on Friday, while Willie Collum is expected to address it on the upcoming VAR Review Show.
Celtic fans have already voiced frustration at the call, with no definitive camera angle proving the entire ball had crossed the line. With the assistant referee not initially flagging for a goal kick, the debate over whether VAR had enough evidence to overturn the on-field decision continues.
If the SFA have evidence that the ball went out of play, they should release it so this ongoing drama can come to an end.
It’s not the first time that Alan Muir has been involved in VAR drama this season. At Motherwell, he denied Celtic a penalty after Maeda was hauled down in the box, and instead gave the foul to the home side for a handball, which came as a result of Maeda going down.
Despite the setback, Celtic remain 13 points clear at the top of the Premiership, with Aberdeen visiting Parkhead on Tuesday as Rodgers’ side look to bounce back.
