SFA chief clamps VAR 'corruption' allegations as cynics told brutal truth about future of technology

Ian Maxwell has told Scottish fans who are disgruntled with VAR in the SPFL that it’s going nowhere. Officials came under fire towards the end of the domestic campaign after some controversial calls. The most high-profile incident involved referee John Beaton when he awarded Celtic an injury time penalty against Motherwell at Fir Park in the midst of the Premiership title race. After a VAR check, Beaton penalised Sam Nicholson for a contentious handball in the box, with the Hoops securing a vital 3-2 victory from the spot.

But Maxwell has told punters VAR IS working and is here to stay. He said: “There is a narrative that we have VAR-lite and it’s a cheap VAR system. “But we have the same VAR system as over 50 percent of European nations. “We have the same technology, it’s not any different and it’s not VAR-lite. “VAR is working. It’s eradicating errors.

But unfortunately we have a culture within Scottish football that just wants to focus on the negative and over-analyse and forensically analyse every decision that’s ever made. “It doesn’t even need to be wrong. It just needs to be a decision you don’t like because it doesn’t suit your team. “It’s about the colour of shirt your team is wearing. “A lot of the hysteria around decisions towards the end of the season weren’t technically wrong. “Everyone just took an instant dislike to them. “We had as tight a title race as we’ve ever had which heightened everybody’s emotions the way it unfolded. “I understand that.

But from a VAR perspective, it’s doing what it should do. “We are still getting decisions wrong that we shouldn’t get wrong. Everyone accepts that. “But when it crosses over into allegations of bias and corruption or being disrespectful to our staff and officials, a line has been crossed and I need to say enough is enough. It just can’t happen. “Everyone gets starry-eyed about the pre-VAR days. “But why would we want to go back to a situation where we get more decisions wrong? It makes no sense.” The SFA were forced to provide police protection to ref Beaton and his family after his private details were leaked online.

Maxwell was appalled and said: “When I need to spend an hour on the phone to the head of serious organised crime trying to John Beaton’s house protected, it’s not on. “And it’s not the first time I’ve had to do that in my eight years here. “It was disgusting. Honestly, I was absolutely raging. “There are lots of bits that escalate to the point where someone says: ‘I am going to stick a referee’s details online’. “How anyone thinks that is acceptable is an absolute disgrace. “I was speaking to John, saying: ‘Do you want to move your family into a hotel, an AirBnB or are you happy staying where you are? “As a family, John made the decision to stay at home. “But when you are having those conversations, that’s when you say, this isn’t what anyone signed up to.” Maxwell has revealed the findings of an independent review into crowd trouble at Ibrox after the Scottish Cup quarter-final between Rangers and Celtic will be revealed in the coming days.

But he’s warned supporters that the SFA are now looking at stricter punishments for pitch invasions or fan disorder. He said: “We need to look at what we’re doing and try to fix it. “It’s happening right across the game. When fans come on to the pitch, it’s not unreasonable to think at some pint that escalates into something serious. “And at that point, we’re all under pressure. So, we need to look at ourselves and what we do to stop that happening. “UEFA have got a different way of dealing with things and I think that’s a road we’re going to have to look at in Scottish football because the only thing that impacts supporters’ behaviour is things that impact the supporters. “History has proven that.”