MusaCeltic supporters are still reeling from one of the most damaging officiating decisions of the season, and events at Ibrox less than two weeks later have only sharpened the sense of injustice.
At Tynecastle, Celtic were reduced to ten men after an astonishing VAR intervention. Auston Trusty was initially shown a yellow card following a challenge with the ball running away from goal and defensive cover arriving. On-field, the referee deemed it a booking and play continued.
That should have been the end of it.
Instead, VAR official John Beaton intervened, recommended a review, and the yellow was upgraded to a straight red for denial of a goalscoring opportunity. Celtic played the remainder of the match a man down and dropped two vital consistency points in an increasingly tight title race.
The fallout was immediate and severe. The decision was framed as “clear and obvious” and justified using DOGSO criteria that many within the game felt simply did not apply.
Bear in mind, Celtic lost their appeal for the incident.
Fast forward ten days and the same questions resurfaced, this time at Ibrox.
During Rangers’ match against Kilmarnock, James Tavernier brought down a Killie forward in an eerily similar situation. Tavernier was already on a yellow card, meaning any sanction beyond leniency would have seen him dismissed.
Yet the outcome could not have been more different.
Tavernier was not shown a second yellow. VAR did not intervene. Play continued without review, and Rangers retained eleven men for the remainder of the match. The contrast with the Trusty incident was stark.
The Ref’s View highlighted the inconsistency on social media, pointing out that every justification later offered by Willie Collum for the Trusty red card applied equally to the Kilmarnock incident. Despite that, only one club suffered the consequences.
Same VAR system. Virtually consecutive weeks. Completely different outcomes.
This is not about rivalry. It is about standards.
Scottish football continues to suffer from inconsistent officiating, and the problem is compounded when identical incidents are treated differently depending on the team involved. When that inconsistency directly impacts the availability of key players and the outcome of title-defining matches, it deserves to be called out.
James Tavernier should not be available for Rangers’ next fixture if the Trusty decision is the benchmark. Instead, Celtic are left as the only side punished for an incident that has now been quietly redefined by inaction elsewhere.
If fairness and consistency are the aim of VAR, then Scottish football is falling well short.
Musa
