Called out- Celtic complain to SFA over Crawford Allan’s Kyogo claim

Celtic have apparently taken the SFA to task over Crawford Allan’s unexpected appearance on Radio Scotland last Saturday over a goal from Kyogo Furuhashi that was probably offside.

Kris Boyd and Robbie Nielson led the claims despite nothing conclusive emerging over the goal scored against Hearts in the match which was shown live on Sky Sports.

VAR would clear up the issue within a minute, on Thursday it was in operation for the Celtic v Rael Betis Europa League tie but will be dismantled by the time tomorrow’s match against Motherwell comes along.

Stephen McGowan, who has a long track record of breaking news sympathetic to the Celtic board, reveals the news of the complaint in today’s Daily Mail.

Celtic have contacted the SFA expressing unhappiness over comments made in a radio interview by referees’ chief Crawford Allan.

Head of referee operations at the governing body since January 2020, Allan angered the Parkhead club when he claimed that Kyogo Furuhashi’s winning goal against Hearts was ‘probably’ offside.

Reacting to comments from Tynecastle boss Robbie Neilson, he also acknowledged a mistake by referee Bobby Madden, who stopped play when Parkhead winger Jota pulled up injured and then failed to give the ball back to Hearts.

Surprised by a rare public intervention from the head of Scotland’s referees, Celtic have made their feelings known to the governing body, expressing surprise over both the content of the comments and their timing.

Celtic chairman Ian Bankier expressed ‘deep concern’ over the standard of refereeing at the club’s recent annual general meeting.

And the SFA have since administered a three-match retrospective ban to Dundee United’s Calum Butcher for a reckless challenge on David Turnbull only deemed a yellow card by referee Don Robertson.

The Parkhead club believe that’s just one decision which has gone against them without public comment from the association’s head of referees.

Reacting to claims from Neilson that Hearts were beaten by the officials and not Celtic in their recent 1-0 defeat at Parkhead, Allan told BBC Scotland’s Sportsound programme: “I’ve said all along since I’ve been in this role — I’ll support my referees and I’ll come out and say if there’s an error as well.

“On Kyogo, is he in front of the defender? Yes, he probably is. You’ve then got to look at the angle of the ball and the speed of it in real time, and it is very, very tight. So it’s an understandable decision.”

Neilson also vented his anger over Madden’s decision to halt a promising Hearts attack after Jota pulled up with the hamstring strain that is set to rule the Portuguese winger out of the Premier Sports Cup Final next weekend.

Adding insult to injury by failing to return the ball to Hearts at the restart, Allan acknowledged a potential error from one of his top officials, saying: “It’s not just head knocks (that stop the game), it’s serious injuries to a player. You can argue all day long on whether it is a serious injury or not — but the fact is the player got taken off and replaced.

“Bobby’s decision at the time was, and he was very close, it was clear that the player was in severe pain. Is a hamstring a serious injury? Yes it’s debatable. Although where I think there definitely is an error, and I’ve chatted to Bobby about this, is with the re-start.

“By the time Bobby had got the whistle to his mouth, which was only half a second or so, Hearts then had possession of the ball. And what should have been done was Hearts should have had the drop ball.”

Celtic have come under pressure from supporters to issue a public statement on Allan’s comments and those of former Hearts chairman Leslie Deans, who claimed the controversial game should have been replayed or the points forfeited.

At last month’s AGM Ian Bankier claimed that he had deep concern over refereeing matters but declined to go public on them.

In January 2019 Celtic went public with concerns about John Beaton, next Sunday the Bellshill based referee will be in charge of the League Cup Final against Hibs.