LAW 5 of the Laws of the Game of Association Football is pretty clear, the referee is the sole judge of fact. Therefore, Inverness Caledonian Thistle did beat Celtic in Sunday's Scottish FA Cup semi-final.
So, in regard to Sunday's match, and in particular to THE big contentious issue of the day - the "stonewall" penalty which Celtic didn't get:
It is a FACT that referee Steven McLean, who had charge of Sunday's game, missed an incidence of handball by ICT full-back Josh Meekings.
Had Mr McLean seen it, he MIGHT have awarded a penalty to Celtic.
His OPINION could, however, have been that the ball had struck Meekings, rather than Meekings had handled it.
Mr McLean's OPINION might have been, that while Meekings handling the ball was a foul, and therefore worthy of the punishment of a penalty kick, he MIGHT have decided to take no further action as regards the player; or, he could have decided to only yellow card the player.
Mr McLean MIGHT, however, have decided Meekings had denied Celtic a clear goal-scoring opportunity, and red-carded him.
Celtic MIGHT have scored with the kick, to square the game and take it to a penalty shoot-out, which Celtic MIGHT have won.
Ryan Esson the ICT goalkeeper MIGHT, however, have saved the kick. Whichever Caltic player took this hypothetical penalty MIGHT have missed it.
Now, the SFA's compliance officer has decided:
The handball - the one unarguable FACT of the whole situation, should IN HIS OPINION, have resulted in, not only a penalty kick to Celtic, but also, a red card for Meekings; and that the ICT player should be banned from the final.
Thus, we have a man who is not a qualified referee, deciding, on the basis of an opinion he is not qualified to give, to deprive a player of an appearance in a national cup final. You could not make this up.
Can the Hampden blazers make themselves look any more ridiculous?
And, all because, the men in charge at Celtic continue their club's ridiculous stance: Celtic FC, since 1888 - NEVER DEFEATED, ALWAYS CHEATED.
I believe, ICT will win any legal challenge they make to this decision. For the integrity of Scottish football - they have to.
Sadly, as ever, the mainstream Scottish media, with the honourable exception of the excellent Mr Graham Spiers my old mate, have chosen to ignore this childish bit of dummy spitting by Celtic and the compliance officer's craven support for Celtic's position.
STILL on Celtic, we have the usual tsunami of dummy spitting and greeting from the self-styled "Greatest Fans In The World", because Lord Carloway, one of Scotland's most-senior judges, has decreed their song "Roll of Honour" to be in violation of the anti-sectarianism in football regulations.
Now this particular piece of legal nonsense - the anti-sectarian legislation I mean, is just about the worst-thought-out and over-hurriedly-introduced law I have come across. IT IS BAD LAW. On this, and on very little else, I am in agreement with Jim Murphy.
But, it is law and the Celtic support will simply have to suck it up.
Sectarianism in Scotland is not merely a football problem, but, neither is it a one-way street.
I HAVE been, perhaps a tad hard on the Celtic family today, but, credit where credit is due. I did like the comment which one Celtic fan posted on a national newspaper website about the penalty which never way. He suggested the problem with Scottish referees was that too-many of them had "16:90 vision".
Now that is funny.
So, in regard to Sunday's match, and in particular to THE big contentious issue of the day - the "stonewall" penalty which Celtic didn't get:
It is a FACT that referee Steven McLean, who had charge of Sunday's game, missed an incidence of handball by ICT full-back Josh Meekings.
Had Mr McLean seen it, he MIGHT have awarded a penalty to Celtic.
His OPINION could, however, have been that the ball had struck Meekings, rather than Meekings had handled it.
Mr McLean's OPINION might have been, that while Meekings handling the ball was a foul, and therefore worthy of the punishment of a penalty kick, he MIGHT have decided to take no further action as regards the player; or, he could have decided to only yellow card the player.
Mr McLean MIGHT, however, have decided Meekings had denied Celtic a clear goal-scoring opportunity, and red-carded him.
Celtic MIGHT have scored with the kick, to square the game and take it to a penalty shoot-out, which Celtic MIGHT have won.
Ryan Esson the ICT goalkeeper MIGHT, however, have saved the kick. Whichever Caltic player took this hypothetical penalty MIGHT have missed it.
Now, the SFA's compliance officer has decided:
The handball - the one unarguable FACT of the whole situation, should IN HIS OPINION, have resulted in, not only a penalty kick to Celtic, but also, a red card for Meekings; and that the ICT player should be banned from the final.
Thus, we have a man who is not a qualified referee, deciding, on the basis of an opinion he is not qualified to give, to deprive a player of an appearance in a national cup final. You could not make this up.
Can the Hampden blazers make themselves look any more ridiculous?
And, all because, the men in charge at Celtic continue their club's ridiculous stance: Celtic FC, since 1888 - NEVER DEFEATED, ALWAYS CHEATED.
I believe, ICT will win any legal challenge they make to this decision. For the integrity of Scottish football - they have to.
Sadly, as ever, the mainstream Scottish media, with the honourable exception of the excellent Mr Graham Spiers my old mate, have chosen to ignore this childish bit of dummy spitting by Celtic and the compliance officer's craven support for Celtic's position.
STILL on Celtic, we have the usual tsunami of dummy spitting and greeting from the self-styled "Greatest Fans In The World", because Lord Carloway, one of Scotland's most-senior judges, has decreed their song "Roll of Honour" to be in violation of the anti-sectarianism in football regulations.
Now this particular piece of legal nonsense - the anti-sectarian legislation I mean, is just about the worst-thought-out and over-hurriedly-introduced law I have come across. IT IS BAD LAW. On this, and on very little else, I am in agreement with Jim Murphy.
But, it is law and the Celtic support will simply have to suck it up.
Sectarianism in Scotland is not merely a football problem, but, neither is it a one-way street.
I HAVE been, perhaps a tad hard on the Celtic family today, but, credit where credit is due. I did like the comment which one Celtic fan posted on a national newspaper website about the penalty which never way. He suggested the problem with Scottish referees was that too-many of them had "16:90 vision".
Now that is funny.
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