GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - AUGUST 17: Referee Matthew MacDermid during a Premier Sports Cup last sixteen match between Rangers and St Johnstone at Hampden Park, on August 17, 2024, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Williamson/SNS Group via Getty Images)
St Johnstone have requested to hear the audio surrounding Cyriel Dessers goal against them in the League Cup tie at Hampden last night.
The conduct of Matthew MacDermid is very much in the spotlight in what appears to be a lose-lose situation for the Lanarkshire based official.
If he blew his whistle before the ball hit the net St Johnstone can say that their players stopped, if he only blew after the ball hit the net he has to explain why he allowed the offending team to play on when his instant assessment was that a foul had been committed.
Advantage is played for the offended team, not the one that has committed the foul, either way Greg Aitken on VAR duty was quick to intervene, over-ruling MacDermid who would have re-started play with a free-kick if he hadn’t been instructed to review on the screen.
The Sun reports:
SFA chiefs will assess the audio of under-fire ref Matthew MacDermid’s decision-making in the lead up to Cyriel Dessers’ controversial Premier Sports Cup goal against St Johnstone.
The Saints players believe the whistler blew for a foul on Jack Sanders before the Rangers striker scored – then followed up with another blast after the ball hit the net.
MacDermid was clearly seen gesturing for a foul twice before VAR man Greg Aitken flagged up he’d got it wrong.
SFA chiefs immediately backed their man with a statement saying he whistled only after Dessers had scored – but that version of events has been disputed by some of the players on the park.
SunSport understands Saints bosses have asked for clarity on the situation and that means the audio file will now be accessed in a bid to piece together a proper timeline of events.
MacDermid will be on the right side of the rules if he’s proven to have only whistled once the goal was scored.
But if he’s shown to have stopped the game by blowing prior to Dessers finding the net, and when he first signalled for a foul, then the SFA will have a major rules issue on their hands.
The virtually unanimous reaction of the pundits has been that Dessers did NOT foul Sanders.
However, the process leading to the goal being awarded has been roundly criticised.
The SFA’s statement, defending the final decision, said: “The whistle is blown after the goal is scored. The referee clearly communicates that he is going to award a foul after the goal is scored.”
MacDemid is viewed as one of the rising stars from the ‘elite’ Lanarkshire Refereeing Association, groomed in the image of Willie Collum.
Last season the SFA were quick to provide audio content on demand when the 2012 Tribute Act were demanding action against Collum for not requesting a pitchside review of a penalty claim against Celtic.
Hopefully MacDermid’s rapid climb up the ranks comes to a halt with other aspiring top flight officials reminded that the same Laws of the Game are applied to all member clubs, even those in financial distress and in need of every possible income stream.
No matter which way you look at this, it’s sheer incompetence of a grand scale, he should be demoted as a referee and the cheat in var should be sacked, this is when we will see if collum is the the boss or the patsy
100% agree it could only be Scotland
This particular officiating SNAFU is going to run and run.
And somebody should be getting punted.
Well, that’s what should happen in a professional set-up. 🙁
But, then again it’s the SFA and The Scottish Referees’ Association,
so everyone in the game has to shut up
and look the other way.
They were quick enough to try and cover up their fuck up live on TV.
Not the first time the ref has overturned a decision after var wrongly intervened.
The whole lot are corrupt and need dealt with.
The ref is clearly seen blowing and pointing away from the box before Dessers shoots.
That is play stopped, clear indication of a St Johnstone free kick.
Var can make it look different with the amount of slowing play down, not showing the ref having made a clear decision before a shot was taken.
St Johnstone were robbed by the officials, no wonder other countries laugh at our football, its a mockery and being allowed.
Match should be replayed at a neutral venue with no fans.
Scottish football is corrupt for one club only and thats the biggest cheats in Scotland they scum that play at cheating liebrox but play their football at corrupt hampden beside there masonic fuckpigs friends honest why doesn’t UEFA step in and investigate sfa.spfl surely they are watching these cheats our officials are in embarrassing honest to watch especially Beaton Dickinson Muir Walsh Dallas and the rest of the corrupt fuckpigs in black.RATS THE LOT OF THEM…