Despite being excluded from any matches involving the second best team in Scotland since November, Willie Collum will referee the Scottish Cup Final between Celtic and Hearts.
A statement from the Ibrox club mentioned underlying issues earned them a £6,000 fine with Collum given a six month holiday from games involving Steven Gerrard’s side.
The consequences of that are that other clubs get the Lanarkshire based official more often, the Hampden fixture will be his fifth Celtic match since Christmas Day, the cup final will be his third Hearts match in the same period.
With the appointment of officials for this weekend still to be confirmed Collum has been given just one post split match involving the top six clubs, tonight he is on duty at the St Mirren v Hamilton match.
Rather than put him in line for more controversy it’s unlikely that the cup final referee will be in action this weekend although anything is possible when one club can effectively issue a statement that prevents them from having a particular referee for six months.
A ref deemed so bad that Rangers complain about demanding he does not referee any more games. SFA remain silent but don’t allow him ref any more Rangers games thus endorsing the complaint. His punishment. The showpiece finally to the season. Only in Scotland!
— Matt Luca (@MattLuca11) May 13, 2019
Thankfully for Willie Rangers aren’t in it which has freed up an opening.
— murphio1888 (@murphio1888) May 13, 2019