Saturday, March 05, 2005

Referees 'a bit biased' shock!

Hearts call for penalty inquiry

Well it's about time that someone did this, but I can't help wishing it hadn't been my team, Hearts.

Briefly Hearts were playing (and out playing) Rangers and - with a minute to go - drawing 1-1, which was a fairly major blow to Rangers' title aspirations. The linesman then called for a penalty against Hearts which no-one else in the entire ground (including the Rangers players) saw and which TV replays show conclusively could not have taken place as he claimed - final result 2-1 to Rangers.

At best, this was yet another bad decision by a Scottish official and yet another bad decision which benefited one half of the Old Firm. At worst - and more likely IMHO after 30 years of watching Scottish football - it was a deliberate attempt to benefit Rangers by a dishonest and biased official.

There won't be an enquiry, because the press and SFA in Scotland is run almost wholly by a west coast mafia who would take the side of an Old Firm team over the rest of Scottish football any day. In the end, all that happens is that the likes of the Daily Record and the other Glasgow-based papers will lambast Hearts for even suggesting offical bias and Hearts will be accused of bringing the game into disrepute - and this in spite of the fact that you'd be hard-pushed to find a non-Old Firm supporter who doesn't know that officials give the Old Firm an unfair advantage. For some reason it's thought better that we have a corrupt officialdom than someone rocks the boat and tries to chnage that inequality.

Is it any wonder that everyone thinks our game is a joke?

+++UPDATE+++

"[T]he same official was involved when Rangers beat Celtic 1-0 five years ago after he disallowed a "goal" by Mark Viduka...

His case was not aided when it emerged yesterday that the policeman, who is based in Govan, received a mock commendation from his police colleagues, reading: "The Chief Constable Highly Commends Constable Andrew Davis Reg No. 290368. Whilst off duty and in uniform, for showing presence of mind in extreme circumstances whereby he got it right up the Celtic by disallowing Big Viduka when he tried it on with that ‘Arm of God’ stuff, thereby endangering his double-glazing and his life. It concluded in capital letters: "WELL DONE!"


(from the Scotland on Sunday newspaper, 6 March 2005)

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