SFA chairman Ian Maxwell has come under fire from Kris Boyd for failing to address Rangers’ complaint over the officiating error against Celtic.
The decision, which could have resulted in a penalty before the shootout in the Scottish League Cup final on Sunday, December 15, was a harsh one for the Gers.
But rather than promising to address the problem of subpar refereeing, Maxwell made a joke about it resulting in more views on YouTube.
“By pushing Patrick Stewart to demand answers over the cup final spot-kick howler, I warned that far too many people regarded Rangers penalty rows as a joke,” Boyd told the Scottish Sun on December 21. Ian Maxwell was the next to laugh, which surprised me.
Why did the SFA CEO treat the Premier Sports Cup final dispute so casually in the middle of the week?
“I don’t recall him giggling when Stuart Armstrong failed to receive a penalty against Hungary at the Euros or when Scott McTominay’s goal for Scotland was disallowed in Spain.
The SFA were quite serious back then, I see. However, it all appears to be a little light-hearted until there is a dispute over a Rangers penalty. I’ll tell you what, this is a big issue.
“Maxwell ought not to have put off addressing a problem that has dominated Scottish football for the whole week until Wednesday. Additionally, he should not have made jokes or chuckled about a “spike” in the number of people watching The VAR Review Show on the SFA’s YouTube account.
“He ought to have gone directly to Collum’s door early on Monday morning to devise a strategy for raising the bar for refereeing in this nation.”
Rangers will undoubtedly be furious at the chaotic way the situation is being handled.
The club’s legitimate irritation was greatly exacerbated by the SFA’s utterly chaotic handling of the penalty controversy from the Scottish League Cup final.
In sharp contrast to the SFA’s handling of earlier refereeing disputes, Maxwell’s attitude, which was marked by lightheartedness rather than the gravity the situation required, suggests a lack of consistency and regard for the importance of the matter at hand.
The sport’s reputation and the standards of accountability from football’s governing body are compromised by the tardiness in addressing the obvious officiating error and Maxwell’s flippant comment regarding the rise in YouTube views.
In addition to trivialising Rangers’ justifiable complaints, this careless approach does not persuade supporters and clubs that the SFA is dedicated to raising refereeing standards.
Clubs like Gers feel ignored and unfairly treated in their fight for justice on the pitch, and the SFA’s leadership’s response only serves to reinforce the sense of bias and incompetence.
Boyd agrees with all of the Ibrox outfit’s supporters, and for any significant change to occur, such statements must be heard louder.
