Alan Muir will not be involved in this weekend’s Scottish Cup quarter-final matches, marking his third consecutive absence from officiating duties following his performance in the recent Hibs vs. Celtic SPFL clash at Easter Road.
During the 83rd minute of that match, Daizen Maeda found the back of the Hibs net. The on-field officials, Steven McLean and David Roome, initially saw no issue with the ‘goal.’
However, after a VAR review lasting approximately one minute, it was determined that the ‘goal’ would not stand, as the ball had gone out of play before Alistair Johnstone delivered the cross.
After the match, Brendan Rodgers shared his thoughts on the decision with a straightforward request:
I’m hoping to see conclusive evidence that it was out. The linesman on this side, he had his flag up quite a lot today.
But for the goal, he probably has one of the best views in the ground and he kept his flag down, which tells me that he felt it was in. Not all of the ball was out.
So if it’s the case, then you’ve got to go and review it with VAR. But then you’re taking an angle from the 18-yard line. If you’re taking the angle from the 18-yard line, and you can tell me that you can absolutely say 100 per cent, then you’re having a guess.
Muir, one of only three full-time VAR officials in Scottish football, was also excluded from last week’s six midweek SPFL Premiership fixtures and again over the weekend, when Andrew Dallas oversaw two matches.
While VAR will be active for three of the four Scottish Cup ties this weekend, Muir has yet to receive his first assignment since the controversial decision that denied Celtic a goal.
On Friday, the SFA’s KMI panel voted 4-1 in favor of the goal standing. Celtic supporters are anticipating that the incident will be featured in Willie Collum’s monthly VAR Review on YouTube.
