Celtic star Haissem Hassan’s disallowed goal against St Johnstone has been analysed by former top flight referee Bobby Madden.
The Hoops had a lead at McDiarmid Park through Mika Baur’s first goal in green and white. But they thought they had doubled that lead when Sebastian Tounekti’s deep cross from the left-hand side was nodded down by Kasper Hogh into Hassan’s path.
The Egyptian would finish it off in style but his celebrations were cut short when the referee blew his whistle. The assistant ref had adjudged the ball to have gone out of play from the delivery and the strike was ruled out.
Chris Sutton blasted the call while debates were had on Sky Sports during their coverage of Celtic’s 1-0 victory which keeps them unbeaten and top of the Scottish Premiership division.
As is often the case in Scottish football, former whistlers have their say on the major talking points. And this one was no different with Madden weighing in and suggesting that it was the right call based on what he had seen.
The retired ref explained on his social media accounts how he felt it was an “interesting” situation but that there would be no way of knowing if the ball had stayed in because it was clearly out of Sky’s camera shots during play.
That’s why, he says, the linesman’s shout has to be respected and final.
“An interesting situation in the match between St Johnstone and Celtic where (Hassan’s) goal was disallowed,” Madden wrote. “In line with VAR protocols, the assistant referee delayed his flag until the goal was scored.
“In the exact same way as offside, the assistant should allow the play to develop and then confirm his on-field decision. VAR would then review the situation and check if the ball went out of play.
“They would immediately go and check the goal line camera. You can see from the footage that the ball is removed from the shot for exactly 1.19 seconds; there is no way for VAR to track the ball’s movement in its entirety. With this in mind, there is no clear evidence that the assistant referee made an error.
“In short, you may believe the ball left the field of play, but no one is better placed than the assistant He followed protocol and flagged when the play was complete. In terms of refereeing, this is the correct outcome.”
Madden’s thoughts echoed James McFadden’s opinion on the matter as the former Scotland cap insisted there was no way for anyone to officially know if the ball had gone out of play or not.
Therefore the assistant’s decision was the right one.
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