Former referee names the 'absolutely certain' criteria penalty that impacted Hearts title chances didn't reach
The ex Premier League whistler had his say on a huge VAR moment in the SPFL Premiership title race
Former referee Dermot Gallagher has echoed the thoughts of the KMI panel that Celtic shouldn’t have been awarded a penalty against Motherwell - a decision that severely dented Hearts’ title hopes.
With second left of the penultimate gave of the Premiership season, referee John Beaton was sent to the monitor by VAR official Andrew Dallas, who thought he’d missed a handball from Motherwell’s Sam Nicholson in the box after an aerial duel with Auston Trusty. After review, Beaton changed his mind and awarded Celtic the penalty, which Kelechi Iheanacho converted. They then beat Hearts 3-1 on the final day to secure the league title by two points.
Given the huge ramifications of the controversial call, shockwaves were sent around the footballing world after the decision. The Key Match Incident (KMI) review panel recently come out reached the 2-1 verdict that Beaton should’ve stuck with his original decision of not awarding the spot kick. Speaking on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch alongside ex Aston Villa and Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood, Gallagher says he wouldn’t have changed his mind after going to the monitor as there’s now way he could’ve been ‘absolutely certain’ it was a penalty kick.
Ref Watch on Celtic penalty incident
He said: “I didn't think it was a penalty because I was struggling to think how that ball could rebound so far off his hand. So I thought it came off his head. But what I'd say is it was such a big, big call that I just feel you need to be absolutely certain before you send the referee to the screen. And I couldn't have felt certain."
Pundit Sherwood added: "Never a penalty. I saw it at the time. I thought that when they were looking for a penalty, I thought maybe for the elbow across the face. I feel sorry for the referee, as soon as they send him across to the monitor, he's got no option but to give it, in my opinion. I think there's far too much pressure on him. There's too much doubt. Is it clear-cut? No, it's not clear-cut. It's not clear-cut. And we just looked at a few handballs there previously. Not every thing that hits your hand in the penalty area is a penalty. I think that is too big a call."
KMI review of handball verdict
Had the penalty not have been given, Celtic would’ve had to beat Hearts by a three goal margin on the final day. After reviewing the incident, the KMI voted in favour of Beaton not changing his original decision and that VAR was wrong to intervene in the first place.
The original verdict from the independent panel read: “The majority (2:1) of the panel deemed the on-field decision of play on to be correct. Two panel members felt VAR was incorrect to intervene and the penalty was incorrectly awarded for handball after OFR. One panel member felt that VAR was correct to intervene and a penalty should have been awarded.”