BLUNDERING VAR official Alan Muir has been fired from his post.
The technical referee wiped out a Celtic equaliser in the 2-1 loss to Hibs at Easter Road in February by overturning the decision of match official Steven McLean who originally awarded the strike by Daizen Maeda.
Referee guru Willie Collum later ruled Muir had made an error in his judgement when he stated the ball had been out of play before Alistair Johnston whipped over the cross from the right byline.
The ball was mishandled by keeper Jordan Smith at his near post and Maeda reacted in an instant to fire the rebound into the net that would have made the score 2-2 with eight minutes to play.
FLASHPOINT…the moment Alistair Johnston fires over the cross for Daizen Maeda’s equaliser against Hibs – but VAR official Alan Muir ruled the ball had been out of play.
There was no pictorial evidence produced to back up Muir’s judgement.
Initially, he was dropped from the screen technician’s list for two weeks, but, following discussions with Collum and VAR Manager Martin Atkinson, a decision has been made to have him removed from the Premiership for all time, according to a report in the Scottish Sun.
It’s believed Muir accepted the outcome, but is likely to remain with the SFA as a referees’ observer.
After the controversial flashpoint in Edinburgh, Brendan Rodgers branded his decision as “guesswork” and, a few days later, Collum admitted Muir had got it wrong.
The Hoops boss said: “My take is the official Alan Muir has had a guess at it because the linesman arguably has the best view in the stadium and he doesn’t give it.”
