The controversy surrounding Celtic’s recent defeat to Hearts has intensified, with the club formally appealing Yang Hyun-jun’s contentious red card and vocally criticising the match officiating, particularly the use of VAR.
During the match, Yang was initially shown a yellow card for a high boot on Alex Cochrane, a decision that was escalated to a red card by referee Don Robertson after consulting VAR. This decision forced Celtic to play with 10 men for the majority of the game.
The situation worsened when a penalty was awarded against Celtic’s Tomoki Iwata for an alleged handball, a decision met with widespread disbelief, except, it seems, from John Beaton in the VAR studio.
Celtic manager, Brendan Rodgers, did not mince words post-match, directly criticising Beaton’s involvement and the overall officiating.
The debate over VAR’s efficacy and its role in football was further fueled on the Press Box podcast, where journalists Grahan Spiers and Stephen McGowan discussed the incident.
McGowan expressed a growing concern within the football community that VAR, rather than clarifying decisions, is complicating the sport and detracting from its enjoyment. He argued that the intervention in the Yang incident was unnecessary, as there was no “clear and obvious” error with the initial yellow card decision.
He said: “I find it all depressing, to be honest with you. This has all become very tribal, and it shouldn’t be tribal. Everyone should be agreeing now that VAR is a pig in a poke. It’s ruining the spectacle of football for every team. For every club and every set of fans, VAR is becoming an expensive failing.
“People have no idea what the tariff is for VAR to get involved, we saw that yesterday. What’s clear and obvious? No one seems to know, it’s all over the place.
“You look at Don Robertson. Yellow card for Yang. I thought that was okay, it might be one of these one-and-a-half yellow cards but the referee dealt with it, so be it. There’s nothing clear and obvious that was an error, giving a yellow card.
“You can make a case for a red and say he’s endangering an opponent but it’s not a clear-cut mistake by the ref as far as I’m concerned. VAR shouldn’t be anywhere near it!
“You are dangerously close to VAR re-refereeing the game which is what Brendan Rodgers was saying afterwards.”
CeltsAreHere understands that Celtic have requested the audio and has previously voiced their concerns to the SFA.
