Hibs show spineless Nicholson how to hold the SFA to account

Hibs have shown Celtic how to tackle the SFA by getting an admission that David Dickinson should have recommended an on field review of a penalty claim at Aberdeen on Saturday.

The Edinburgh club wasted no time in contacting the SFA to review the incident which involved an obvious handball by Nicky Devlin which denied Hibs a first half penalty in a match that finished in a 2-2 draw.

On the pitch David Munro missed the incident, reviewing it in the VAR studio David Dickinson wrongly decided that no review was required.

With VAR in operation for 16 months Celtic haven’t successfully challenged a single decision in the way that Hibs have.

At Ibrox in January 2023 Connor Goldson raised his hands to block a shot from Carl Starfelt, John Beaton and Willie Collum refused to award a penalty while Michael Nicholson and new Chairman Peter Lawwell watched on in silence.

While the Ibrox club went tonto over an offside decision against Celtic in December the hoops board sat in silence over James Tavernier fouling David Turnbull while Callum Spence wrongly flagged for offside. Nick Walsh looked afraid to pause play to review the foul on Turnbull.

Showing how to hold the SFA to account Hibs stated:

Hibernian FC met with Scottish FA representatives following the Club’s cinch Premiership match away at Aberdeen (17 February, 2024).

Upon review of the game, the Club believes VAR made a serious error in the first half when Jordan Obita’s cross hit the arm of Aberdeen defender Nicky Devlin.

The incident was reviewed by VAR, and the referee was advised that the on-field decision was correct, meaning no penalty was awarded.

The Club held meetings with the Scottish FA at Hampden earlier today (19 February) to challenge the decision. The governing body outlined that the Referee Department agreed that the incident should have been referred by VAR for On-Field Review, and therefore an error was made.

This is not the first occasion where the Club has received an apology for VAR errors, and the Club will continue to work with the Scottish FA regarding officiating in the Scottish game.

Hibernian FC believes VAR made a serious error in the first half of Saturday’s game against Aberdeen.

— Hibernian Football Club (@HibernianFC) February 19, 2024

At the 2022 Celtic AGM Nicholson told shareholders that there would be teething problems with VAR after Hearts were awarded two penalties against the hoops in the first match with VAR involved while a clear handball from a James Forrest pass wasn’t even reviewed.

The Daily Express reported Nicholson saying:

What we have as a club – and all clubs in Scotland have it – is an interest in having the best possible match officials and regulation of matches so we can focus on football. As we mentioned last year – and as Ian Bankier almost got into trouble with – we have for many years lobbied the SFA and the SPFL to make sure we got the best match officials possible.

The first step with that was pushing for VAR – which worked out well! The second stage was to raise our concerns about VAR with the SFA. In relation to the specific incident (at Hearts) we did ask questions about how the rules had been applied.

I think it is inevitable that with the early stages of VAR there are going to be some teething issues. But you can rest assured that we do continue to press that issue with the SFA and the SPFL. There is a working group that the SPFL have brought together of all the clubs

Asked about refereeing issues at the 2023 AGM Nicholson and Lawwell responded by cracking jokes to the hilarity of most of the elderly shareholders.

Dickinson is one of Crawford Allan’s emerging stars, a brief look at his families interest on Facebook make it very clear which club he supports.