Fir Park was, for the second time this season, the venue for highly unusual officiating impacting the top of the Scottish Premier League (SPFL) table.
Dickinson’s “Dougie, Dougie” Moment
In November, Virtual Assistant Referee (VAR) lead David Dickinson advised referee Willie Collum that Jota was offside when scoring a goal for Celtic that would have put the Champions into a commanding 2-0 lead. What transpired was that the VAR technology partially failed meaning the image from the nearest camera to the incident did not work.
Faced with this technology fault, Dickinson had a range of options both practical and by the SFA guidelines. He chose neither path and instead gave Jota offside despite the lack of definitive evidence he was, and therefore in direct contravention of the SFA guidelines he is supposed to work under.
The SFA then compounded this strange behaviour by misleading the public as to how the technology worked whilst confirming it was Dickinson who had made the call despite the technical failings.
I covered this comprehensively here.
Jeopardy Immunity
Since that time, clubs across the SPFL have at various times bemoaned how VAR has been implemented and suffered at the hands of the part time officials.
Except one.
It is remarkable that since VAR was rushed into the Scottish game, one club has proven immune from the misfortunes and incompetence of the beleaguered Scottish refs.
That club, playing out of Ibrox, has benefitted from at least seven big calls that the Yorkshire Whistler has deemed incorrect. None have been given against, that have been materially impactful.
At the same time, rivals for the title, Celtic, have been on the wrong end of at least five and benefitted from none.
What is remarkable is that at the time all clubs in the SPFL have their horror stories of poor officiating and VAR implementation, one remains seemingly immune from the vagaries introduced by allowing part time officials to rule over a full-time game.
You’d think the coin of fortune would land tails at some point?
This fact has even been acknowledged by The Rangers rookie manager Micky Beale. In an article in The Herald on 25th February 2023 he chimed:
“I have to say since I have come back into the league I have been pleased with the officiating and maybe that is because there has been no real drama come my way yet.”
Guileless young Micky is endlessly entertaining and his refreshing candour is to be admired in this instance.
The Rangers seem immune from officiating jeopardy and Micky knows it.
Dallas’s “Dougie, Dougie” Moment?
And so to Fir Park, Motherwell once again.
In the 62nd minute of a match poised at 2-2, where any further slippage from the Light Blues would likely end once and for all this season’s pursuit of the title and a Champions League bounty, Fashion Sakala broke down the left wing and from his cross the resulting play ended with Todd Cantwell scoring for the away team.
The normal VAR checks were done – Sakala had looked very close to offside, and eventually Andrew Dallas the VAR lead indicated to referee Nick Walsh that the goal could be awarded.
However, when the image was released that had been through the VAR process, there was consternation to say the least.
On the Sunday following the game, 19th March, The Scotsman published an article quoting ex referee Steve Conroy and it is worth your time to read.
Conroy opined:
“It seems to me that VAR have got this one wrong. I think Sakala is in an offside position,” Conroy told Grosvenor Sport.
“Arms and hands don’t count when it comes to an offside decision but it looks like VAR have decided that the Motherwell defender’s arm plays Sakala ONSIDE with this mythical situation where your arm becomes your body at the T-shirt line or armpit.
“So, they are saying that the defender’s shoulder is ahead of Sakala’s foot but it doesn’t look like that to me. It’s a game-changing moment.
“It’s the second big call that’s gone wrong at Fir Park after a Jota goal for Celtic was disallowed when the cameras were not focused on the incident.”
It is highly unusual for any mainstream Scottish outlet to have a piece questioning the veracity of a decision in favour of The Rangers so this is noteworthy. Predictably, in an age when outlets copy and paste from each other, this quite sensational piece was ignored by other organs.
Conroy’s concerns can be summarised as twofold:
- Earlier in the piece, it is raised that the lines drawn (by a human VAR – i.e. Andrew Dallas) did not seem straight indicating some kind of operational error; and
- That there had been an incorrect interpretation of the law as to what part of the Motherwell defender’s body should have been the reference point for the decision.
As always with game-changing contentious decision, I asked the Yorkshire Whistler.
The detail is here.
On this particular incident, here is the Yorkshire Whistler’s verdict in full:
“The ball is played down the channel for the Rangers player, Sakala to run on to. He squares it and the ball ultimately ends up in the back of the net.
This appears to be a very close decision that goes in Rangers favour, as VAR adjudge the Rangers player to be level.
However, upon closer scrutiny, I am not convinced this was the correct outcome. When the image is paused at the point of contact made by the original pass, my gut feeling is that Sakala has just crept offside. What makes this a difficult decision to call is that the pitch markings do not appear to run parallel with 18-yard line. Interesting the separate still freeze frame image provided to me that VAR produced to make the onside call, also has questions to answer around where the lines have been drawn.
I understand there is some controversy around this particular image already and having analysed the footage I am inclined to feel this image does not feel quite right.
Law 17 states that the HANDS & ARMS of ALL players are not considered when determining offside (on the basis you cannot legally score with these parts of the body).
For the purposes of determining offside, the upper boundary of the arm is in line with the bottom of the armpit.
However, the line drawn by VAR appears to line up with the end of the slightly extended arm of the Motherwell defender when making the onside call. If Law 17 is applied correctly, then line should have been marginally further back parallel with the defender’s ‘armpit’ area – in which case I would then suspect the VAR decision would have been to rule marginally as Offside.
Verdict: INCORRECT DECISION. Unusual scenario, but I feel Var actually got this wrong and that the goal should have been disallowed for a tight offside decision.”
The image showing the lines Dallas drew “does not feel quite right”.
And, he concurs with Conroy, that Dallas does not appear to know, or understand, Law 11 regarding the part of the defenders body to reference against when deciding on offsides.
Remember: the VAR technology provides an image and the ability to look at replays from different angles. The “Hawkeye” components places objects in space. But it is the human VAR official that is tasked with a) drawing the relevant lines onto the image and b) making a decision and relaying that to the on field referee.
Dallas either deliberately or accidently drew the lines incorrectly and then either forgot/misremembered or ignored Law 11.
These mishaps once again align to favour one club. At 2-2 in the 62nd minute away from home. With Champions League money on the line.
Oh, and at 4-2 to The Rangers, the win was sealed when midfielder Callum Slattery was dismissed for a challenge on Todd Cantwell. Again, the Yorkshire Whistler was dismissive of this decision in his very understated and measured way.
Two game changing decisions favouring one team in the same game, and both adjudged incorrect by a neutral expert with no skin in the Scottish game.
Summary
As I often say, debate around individual decisions is largely fruitless when taken in isolation and will predictable fracture along partisan lines. All football fans are biased and yet are largely ignorant as regards the Laws of the Game.
As a data nerd I look for patterns which takes time and a reasonable sample size. That is being built with the Yorkshire Whistlers help
However, what we have seen this season are two highly unusual occurrences in SPFL games at Fir Park that put doubt in the mind of a reasonable person as to both the competence and partiality of the officiating.
There was a third highly unusual occurrence in a League Cup Semi-Final between Aberdeen and The Rangers in January 2023. Apparently, the VAR technology shut down for a period that coincided with Ryan Kent smashing Liam Scales in the head. In the 88th minute with the game level the red card that should have resulted for The Rangers winger but did not materialise. A further red card to Borna Barisic in the extra time period for a foul on Matt Kennedy also did not materialise. Aberdeen lost the tie.
The common theme through these highly unusual incidents is the answer to the question qui bono?
And the answer to that question appears always to be the same.
That VAR line doesn’t even appear to be drawn with any reference point to the Well defender. And either the 18 yard line at Fir Park is as squinty as that bridge over the Clyde, or the line was made at an angle to make sure Sakala was behind it.
Utterly inexcusable image, that.
Hi, great article, well done. I feel the stats should be made more public, we the Celtic supporters all know there is clear bias but it would be interesting to highlight the facts to external audiences such as English supporters, it may snowball and also UEFA. I know they have ignored it before but if we keep raising it they might step in. Btw, I know guys who work on the same site as Dallas, apparently he openly jokes that if he has a decision to make he will favour Sevco.
I was sure it was offside upon watching live. Couldn’t believe the decision and was screaming that I wanted to see the VAR line.
Then it popped up on the screen… for a microsecond! No wonder they didn’t want close scrutiny of it. Corrupt.
It was 5 mins later it appeared!!
Once again our cowardly leaders done nothing. One day it will cost us dearly! Then it will look like sour grapes to complain.
Even with the incorrectly drawn line, the Motherwell player’s whole body is BEHIND the line. No part of his body is even touching the line. Sakala is offside and anyone watching that game live could see it.
I hope all the evidence for the whole season is compiled and that this is taken further.
There are obviously many disputed cases going on in favour of ONE club and certain officials are at the centre of it. The evidence so far strongly suggests cheating or total incompetence, however, since evidence throughout the season seems to favour one club in particular, it suggests something more than mere incompetence.
I believe that lawyers now have to be consulted with regard to taking all this to a court of law.
There is plenty of evidence so far and probably more to come.
We need competent and professional officials who have no vested interests. These officials are neither competent nor professional.
It’s not partime it’s honesty that name dallas has done nothing to explain it any other way in fact they have proved it his father sacked for sending anti RC emails about his office in sfa building that tell you what like the people we let rule our football if it was against Muslim they would all be sacked so dallas fell on his sword with a promise of a top uefa job so corrupt and antic RC and what Celtic_fc_1888 was founded so it’s anti Celtic_fc_1888 now he has got a referees in this country thinking they have to toe the party lines I’m not paranoid the facts are there but our scottish media don’t want it highlighted how a man gets a top job after been sacked for religious hatred I’d love to have explained in this political correct world or is it allowed if you only pick on one religion Scotland have a history they are not proud of the way Irish RC immigrants and its still going on in higher gov law and business
So you can get a top UEFA job for being anti-Catholic? UEFA is dominated by Catholics. Catholics are not some quirky minority. Catholicism is the religion of the historical European elite. Obviously that does not historically pertain to Scotland. But use some full stops and think about what you are saying. A former referee can send an email linking a particular pope, with proven connections to child abuse scandals, to child abuse scandals, in a tasteless and flippant way, then be sacked for it by the SFA, and the overriding anti-Catholic culture is thereafter proven by being appointed to a position in an enormously powerful institution dominated by the Spanish, the French, the Italians, the Bavarians etc.?
And how is any of this still going on in government, law or business? I presume you have sophisticated knowledge of all three that would fly in the face of census data for the last 30 years?
With regard to the SFA, I presume you have some particular knowledge of Michael Mulraney’s leadership and how it is anti Irish and/or anti Catholic?
“UEFA is dominated by Catholics”
Oh dear.
Respectfully, what is your issue? UEFA is an organisation dominated by overwhelmingly Catholic countries. Why would they have offered a referee sacked by the SFA for sending an anti-Catholic joke in an email a job? Or rather, why would this necessarily be an arrangement the SFA could engineer? The SFA is utterly irrelevant at UEFA level. Why do you think the comment above is allowed to stand unquestioned? It makes zero sense.
Sacked for misuse of company e-mail?
It is going beyond a joke, the amount of times sevco get these decisions, and none against. !! Not one penalty given against them this season, and the thugs that pay for them get away with it week after week.! As I have often told people on these pages, that Andrew Dallas has already called me a Fenian bast:;;d, so when these e people are in charge.??? They are certainly not going to give any advantage to teams playing against sevco. Yes , perfect examples of the 1690 school of refereeing, and it is now so very very blatant!. Other teams are now seeing and getting ” the Celtic” treatment and are screening about it now, but I think they want Celtic to take up the fight too the lodge, sorry, SFA, as now they are all feeling it , as refs try to get sevco more and more points, but so long as we are winning they can cheat, and that is what it is, they will not catch us.!! Hail Hail
No need for ex officials (tho refreshingly honest), ex players or VAR…. it’s a yard offside, simples.
However I find it F.A.F tae see how far there establishment officials will go to keep them in a competition, VAR will NEVER work with their grubby fingers on it……
HH
Are we surprised at these ludicrous decisions, No, I had my doubts when VAR was introduced and what has come to pass since then is what I expected. The Lanarkshire Lodge blatantly misuse it every week, knowing that there will be no recourse…
Would be good if someone at Celtic Park was compiling a dossier on all the dodgy decisions that have gone against us. No need to bring any other club into it. Just speak for Celtic. Don’t see it happening but it would be good if explanations were sought. HH
Yip, that one looks iffy. As Martin said on the last post, the Motherwell first was very similar and involved the positioning of arms and vertical lines in the decision. From the point of view of bias, had I been officiating a game where Motherwell’s first had been scored against Celtic, I’d have chopped it off without any discussion. Steve Conroy is, of course, a declared Celtic fan. That could be influencing his thoughts on the Rangers third. But, the YW’s points are, as ever, good ones.
That was one of the very few Rangers games I’ve watched this season, other than the derby games. They absolutely battered Motherwell.
Great work , keep compiling this stuff and get the data summarised and out there. The clear and obvious explanation for all this is as follows; all sport around the world is corrupt, from FIFA down to people using drugs and everything in between. Bribery in the Scottish game to help them has been going on forever, var actually helps them to help Rangers because they can analyse replays for 5 minutes looking for even more ways to cheat
In the past a ref with a brown envelope in his glove box had to make an instant decision which would be later scrutinised on sportscene, now var gives them endless opportunities
Penalties and big offsides are easy measures and beyond any statistical variation which you do such a good job reporting
When I watch them I’m always annoyed at all the small decisions they get, the free kicks on the half way line, break stopping yellow tackles that are never given
I’m sure if somebody ran stats on free kicks the numbers would be just as bad
“What makes this a difficult decision to call is that the pitch markings do not appear to run parallel with 18-yard line.”
This is actually what you would expect, as its a 2D picture of a 3D reality.
For example, the players in the foreground ie nearest the camera, at the bottom of the picture, are far bigger than those further way ie at the top of the picture but, obviously, in reality that’s not the case.
In the same way the gap in the pitch markings are bigger nearest the camera than further way.
This means that you can’t simply place a ruler on the 18y line and draw it forward, as the former is in line with the camera but the latter wouldn’t be and hence the picture is distorted.
The black lines should also be an extension of the sides of the 18y lines and, if these are drawn out to the 24y pitch markings (and assume these are accurate) you’d still see the one nearest the camera being far bigger than the further away one. This would simply be reversed, if the camera was placed at the opposite side.
What would be useful is if 1y lines could be drawn to counteract the optical illusion and give a truer picture to the eye. These would still look bigger nearer the camera but, as long as they are proportionate to their side ie 6 equally spaced then this should provide an accurate picture.
For what its worth, I agree the wee runt is miles offside!
Putting our other squabbles to one side, this is a very interesting post.
Does your explanation account for the fact that the VAR line and the 18 yard line appear, in the picture, appear to get closer to one another, suggesting that they’re not parallel and that, by extension, the VAR line and the byline are not parallel?
Should the 18 yard line and the VAR line not be at the same angle in the 2D image?
Please believe me: this is a genuine question. I am absolutely bowing here to your superior knowledge of the subject.
While I’m at it, I could appeal to you to believe that all of my questions are genuine ones (even when slightly mischievous too), and that they are asked as a Celtic fan (with a long-held season ticket in section 438 etc.).
But, I’d settle for you just taking me at my word on this one.
The lines should appear to get closer together the further away from the camera you get eg the other side of the pitch and shouldn’t be in parallel in the picture.
This makes sense, as in any picture things in the foreground look bigger than those furthest away. This also goes for further up and down the pitch from the camera position at the 18y line.
The VAR line and pitch markings won’t be in line with the 18y line for this reason and get further out of synch the further away eg compare halfway line and the 18y line.
Having said that, the line drawn at Motherwell looks wildly out of proportion as to how it should look.
Celtic Quick News highlights this in a posting VAR OPTICAL ILLUSION? OR DODGY OPERATIVES?
https://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/var-optical-illusion-or-dodgy-operatives/
Comparing and contrasting it with Scotland’s 1st goal against Cyprus.
It isn’t a like for like but as the Scotland one is further away from the 18y line then it should look more out of synch but its the Huns one that is the outlier.