Brian Rice has claimed that referees interpret rules differently for the ‘Old Firm’.
On Saturday Hamilton were denied a very obvious penalty when Connor Goldson dived with his arm at full extension to block a cross going into the goal-mouth.
Referee Alan Muir and his assistant both failed to notice the hand-ball which occurred shortly before half-time with the score level at 1-1.
Covering Rice’s media conference today The Sun reports:
Asked about the handball rule in football, Rice admitted: “I don’t think it’s being interpreted the same for every club.
“When you play the Old Firm, you need to take your chances, you need to carry luck, and you need to get some big decisions.”
Bringing the Old Firm into the discussion is always a nice get out with no similar examples available of decisions going Celtic’s way.
The previous month Muir was in charge of the Partick Thistle v Celtic Scottish Cup tie when he denied Jeremie Frimpong a penalty when he was pulled down by James Penrice. Later in the match he awarded Thistle a penalty for a perfectly timed recovery tackle from Frimpong.
Muir was also the Additional Assistant Referee at the 2015 Scottish Cup semi-final between Celtic and Inverness Caley Thistle, failing to spot Josh Meeking’s handball from a Leigh Griffiths header.