Underground network- Hugh Dallas caught up in yet another refereeing controversy

Hugh Dallas has been involved in yet another refereeing controversy, this time in his consultant role for Referee Training to the Turkish Federation.

Fenerbahce have been concerned about a number of unusual appointments and decisions this season culminating in the decision to field their u-19 side in the final of the Super Cup against Galatasaray then waling off one minute into the match.

Those actions brought international attention to their complaints, four days later it was announced that foreign VAR officials from Italy, Spain, Germany, Portugal and the Neitherlands will be involved until the end of this season.

Meanwhile in Scotland Crawford Allan remains in charge of all refereeing matters despite a vote of No Confidence from Premiership clubs in his leadership.

Hugh Dallas was sacked by the SFA in 2010 after being caught sharing anti-Catholic emails with colleagues but has remained on the refereeing circuit with roles at UEFA, Greece and Turkey.

In Scotland his talentless son Andrew made it onto the lucrative FIFA list in 2014 without having refereed a match involving Celtic.

When health and fitness issues forced Andrew Dallas into early retirement in 2022 the SFA created two full time VAR roles which were given to Dallas Junior and the like minded Greg Aitken.

Hugh Dallas is currently in the middle of a refereeing dispute in Turkey, over claims of bias.

Dallas took up the same role in Greece after clubs asked for “a foreign official to take on the role following several match-fixing scandals”. https://t.co/m7rTKu9fuM pic.twitter.com/Lt3v6Wz0Be

— Lint (@Zeshankenzo) April 17, 2024

On April 12 BBC Sport reported, there has been no follow up from BBC Scotland despite the SPFL hosting some incredible records, especially involving the awarding of penalties:

The Turkish Super Lig will appoint foreign video assistant referees (VAR) for crucial matches until the end of the season following claims of bias.

Fenerbahce’s president said an “underground network” in Turkey was deciding matches by “using referees”.

The club was fined £98,450 after staging a walkout in the Super Cup against Galatasaray in protest.

The Turkish Football Federation struck deals with associations across Europe to appoint VAR officials until May.

Fenerbahce were unhappy with the scheduling of the Super Cup fixture before Thursday’s Europa League tie against Olympiakos and had requested the appointment of a foreign referee, which was denied.

In March, Fenerbahce’s players were attacked by Trabzonspor fans which prompted a vote on whether the club should withdraw from the Super Lig, but Fenerbahce members voted to remain.

Galatasaray, who were awarded a 3-0 win following Fenerbahce’s Super Cup walkout, have a two-point lead over their Istanbul rivals with seven matches remaining in the title race.

A foreign VAR official will be assigned for both clubs’ fixtures this week, with Fenerbahce facing Fatih Karagumruk and Galatasaray taking on Alanyaspor.

Officials will be appointed from Italy, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal.

? “Penalty Rangers”

Celtic chief Michael Nicholson’s cutting reply when quizzed on referees and VAR at AGMhttps://t.co/6vJYJ8p66Ihttps://t.co/6vJYJ8p66I

— Scottish Sun Sport (@scotsunsport) November 22, 2023

Although it can be open to manipulation Wikipedia has the following commentary on Dallas:

On 24 November, the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland wrote to the SFA demanding that they remove Dallas from his position if the allegation was proved.[43] Dallas was sacked by the SFA on 26 November, after chief executive Stewart Regan had concluded the investigation into the allegations.[44] Four other SFA employees were also sacked; three of whom were later reinstated. Dallas planned to sue the SFA for unfair dismissal, but the case was settled before it reached court.[45]

After Dallas was sacked there was concern from referees in Scotland that standards of officiating could drop.[46] Fifa listed Scottish referee Craig Thomson said, “I see him as a world-class individual within Scottish football, There is a lot of work behind the scenes that I’m hoping won’t be lost.”[46] Referee John McKendrick said, “It’s certainly a major blow for Scottish refereeing, At the peak of his game, there are very few figures in Scottish football who have been at the level Hugh Dallas was at.”[46]

In August 2014, he was appointed Chief Refereeing Officer in Super League Greece. In November 2014, he criticised the arbitration of Ilias Spathas (one of the many refs involved in the 2015 Greek football scandal), after a match of Olympiakos, as the “worst he has ever seen” saying that the mistakes were not normal.[47][48] A few days later he quit from being responsible for the appointments of refereeing officials for Super League and Football League matches.[49][50]

In June 2022, Dallas was appointed as the Referee Training Consultant for TFF’s Arbitration Committee. He gave an interview to Turkish news agency Anadolu Agency on 19 August 2022, in which he stated that the quality of refereeing in the Turkish Super League was high and stated that he aimed to contribute to this by minimising referee errors.

The influence of Hugh and Andrew Dallas still dominates refereeing matters in Scotland through the Lanarkshire Refereeing Association.

Emerging referees from Wishaw, Motherwell and Bellshill are far more likely to reach Grade 1 than more competent officials from Dundee, Aberdeen and Edinburgh.

It is now 13 rounds of SPFL matches since Willie Collum was given a match involving Philippe Clement’s side, over the same time period David Dickinson and John Beaton have had three matches with Don Robertson and Alan Muir each getting two SPFL matches involving the Ibrox club.