Ian Maxwell has dismissed Celtic’s demand for John Beaton to explain why no action was taken on Alfredo Morelos’ various attacks on players during the December Glasgow derby.
The Ibrox striker escaped any censure during the match with Beaton failing to speak to Morelos let alone book or red card him for three well publicised attacks on Scott Brown, Anthony Ralston and Ryan Christie. Social media later highlighted two further incidents involving the Ibrox favourite who celebrated his actions on Instagram.
It was assumed that the Compliance Officer would pick up on those incidents, already this season three players have had retrospective suspensions for attacks on Celtic players.
Amazingly no action was taken against Morelos as the SFA leaked the news to their favoured media outlets- Sky Sports, BBC and the Press Association. No awkward follow up questions were asked, apparently Beaton viewed all of the incidents and was happy with his decisions.
Pictures later emerged of Beaton celebrating those decisions with his chums in the Crown Bar in Bellshill.
A day after news was leaked that no further action was being taken Celtic reacted, their statement was well received by supporters but some cynics suggested that there would be no follow up, much like the statement relating to Steven McLean’s performance in the 2015 Scottish Cup semi-final against Inverness Caley Thistle.
In order to fully understand what is going on, Celtic, our supporters, Scottish clubs and the general Scottish football public need transparency in these matters, and we therefore call on the Scottish FA to allow the referee, John Beaton, to explain these decisions publicly as well as any match officials involved in other similar circumstances.
In the meantime, we have requested a meeting with Scottish FA Chief Executive, Ian Maxwell, and the Association’s Head of Refereeing.
Maxwell has wisely met with Celtic but refused to reveal details of Beaton’s report. The next move is upto Celtic.
The chief executive of the SFA has refused to disclose how one of their elite referees reacts to a kick on the genitals, stamping on someone’s back and a punch on the genitals.
Last night Beaton picked up his match fee and expenses for Hearts v Dundee, on Saturday he’ll be fourth official at Aberdeen v Kilmarnock, clearly he has the support of Maxwell and John Fleming.
Last Thursday the SFA staged a publicity stunt in Perth involving managers and referees. No specifics were mentioned but the message delivered was that VAR will resolve all of the problems and be available in a year #jamtomorrow. Full time referees will also be discussed. As a joker Neil Lennon will join a Think Tank on deflection.
VAR and full time referees aren’t part of the issue. The problem lies with John Fleming and his blind faith in the Lanarkshire Referee Association. Despite 12 regional referee associations the Lanarkshire cabal provided three of the four match officials at Ibrox. Beaton, Willie Collum, Andrew Dallas and Bobby Madden will be splitting up the big fixtures for as long as Fleming is in office and no one asks why.
Once again the solution to deep rooted problems in Scottish football is to move on for the good of the game.
Having raised supporter expectations with their Beaton statement it is up to Celtic to publicise the reasons for his performance at Ibrox.
If Celtic wish to sign up to another Moving On campaign they are part of the problem rather than the solution.
CLICK HERE for Celtic fans react to demand for Beaton decisions