Ex-referees slam 'disgraceful' SFA and explain what Rangers should've done differently
12/24/2024 11:00 AM
A leading referee podcast has questioned the SFA's decision to appoint an official to a Celtic match so soon after a monumental cock-up against Rangers.
Rangers have released a stinging statement raising 'serious concerns' about the decision to appoint Frank Connor as an assistant referee for Celtic v St Johnstone on December 29th.
It comes amid a furore over the VAR team failing to award Rangers a stonewall penalty kick in the eventual 5-4 penalty kicks defeat to Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup Final.
Rangers furious as SFA recall officials
SFA official Frank Connor was the AVAR who conspired alongside VAR Alan Muir to ignore a clear foul on Rangers winger Vaclav Cerny inside the box against Celtic.
The decision – which was made in the first half of extra time with the score tied at 3-3 – had a sizeable impact on the game with Rangers eventually going on to lose on penalty kicks.
Despite head of refereeing Willie Collum branding the call 'unacceptable', both referees have now been reinstated to SPFL duties after missing this weekend's round of fixtures.
The controversial former whistler also claimed that the referees would be subject to internal disciplinary procedure.
"It's an unacceptable decision," said Collum. "The VAR team know that, everybody in refereeing knows it. It's unacceptable.
"We will do our very, very best through our coaching, through our analysis to make sure an incident like this never happens again.
"It's a mistake, but it's a bad mistake.
"You talk about accountability. I was very open when I took up this role at the start of the season there would be accountability in refereeing.
"I told the media, I told the managers that we would deal with things internally, there would be accountability but we've been consistent with that throughout the season. I can assure people of that.
"I did say that if match officials find themselves not involved in future matches or we need to change the profile of a match for somebody, we won't come out and publicly say that.
"The way it happens that a manager doesn't come out and publicly talk about, you know, he's maybe taken a player out.
"We've also got a responsibility to protect the wider group of the referees, and we've also got a real responsibility to protect the match officials involved in this as well.
"What I am assuring you as I sit here today is there is accountability in refereeing but there's been accountability consistently since I've taken up post."
Alan Muir will be back on VAR duties come the weekend when St Mirren host Dundee on Sunday 29th December.
Frank Connor is set to return a little earlier, with the official set to be the assistant referee to Callum Scott when Kilmarnock host Aberdeen on Boxing Day.
Connor is also set to be the assistant referee for St Johnstone's trip to face Celtic on 29th December.
Rangers claim this 'raises questions' about the SFA's 'commitment to improving officiating standards and fostering accountability'.
Ex-referees slam 'disgraceful' SFA
The Ref's View podcast – which is run by former whistlers Steve Conroy and Des Roache – has also waded into the debate on social media.
The podcast has questioned the SFA's 'disgraceful' decision to appoint Frank Connor to a Celtic match so soon after the referee botched the Rangers penalty call.
At the same time, the podcast insists Rangers are 'quite right' to question the decision even if they would've preferred the club did so 'privately'.
In a statement posted on X, the Ref's View said:
"Why on earth have the SFA appointed Frank Connor to a Celtic match so soon after the recent media outrage. He can't win in this situation. Disgraceful pressure to put him under & not protecting him. Rangers quite right to question it but would've preferred it privately."
In response to the Rangers statement, the account wrote:
"This was always going to happen. Putting said official is an extremely compromising position when there was no need to. We can't do anything without making it worse."
