Tom Boyd was left fuming after Celtic were again on the end of a controversial handball VAR decision as the former skipper raged: “referees need to go back to school.” The treble-winning ex-Hoops captain was livid at Dundee United’s penalty award at Parkhead which saw the visitors draw level as Steven Fletcher netted from the spot to cancel out Sead Haksabanovic’s opener after a handball by Alexandro Bernabei in a dramatic 4-2 win for the champions.
Argentinian Bernabei had his back turned when Fletcher’s header toward goal struck his arm and referee David Dickinson was referred to the monitor for check by VAR Nick Walsh. The whistler awarded the penalty and booked the full back. Boyd was working as co-commentator on Celtic TV and blasted: “It’s time like this the referees should ignore the rules. He’s putting his arms out for balance. Unbelievable! Referees need to go back to school.”
IFAB rules state that a player will be penalised if his body is an "unnatural silhouette", i.e. making his body bigger with his arm. It is also automatically an offence if the arm is above shoulder height. Former Celtic goalkeeper and BBC pundit Packie Bonner said: “If you try to head the ball you have to use your body to try to get momentum. His hand was behind his back. Okay, the ball was going goal direction and it hit his arm. Was it a handball and deserving of a penalty? That’s debatable. But how can you give a yellow card to a player who has his back to the ball and doesn’t even actually know where the ball is. It’s not intentional. That to be is the biggest crime.”
At the club’s AGM on the eve of the Tangerines clash, chief executive Michael Nicholson revealed the club had contacted the SFA after a handball by Hearts defender Michael Smith wasn’t referred for a check on the opening weekend of the technology being used in the Scottish Premiership.
Ange Postecoglou was left scratching his head as to why Steven McLean, in front of the monitor at the Clydesdale House base, didn’t refer match referee Walsh - in the spotlight again after this latest incident - to check it out.
Nicholson said: “It seems that handball is applied in different ways in varying countries. In relation to the specific incident (at Hearts ) we did ask questions about how the rules had been applied.”
There was a second VAR incident at Parkhead when a high Craig Sibbald challenge on Giorgos Giakoumakis was checked for a potential red card despite the whistler not even awarding a free kick but the Tangerines man remained on.
Celtic won 4-2 with Dylan Levitt cancelling out Haksabanovic's second but Kyogo and Liel Abada netted in the dying minutes to secure a dramatic win.
