Rangers and Celtic sent SFA message by ex-FIFA official after new Old Firm announcement
Celtic have been sent a new message by the SFA ahead of their Old Firm clash with Rangers through the appointment of referee John Beaton, according to Stuart Dougal.
The two Glasgow rivals will meet for the third time this season at Ibrox on Sunday (7 April) as the Gers look for their first Old Firm win of the campaign and the SFA have confirmed Beaton will take charge of proceedings.
While that decision has been met with some controversy, former FIFA official Dougal believes it has been made deliberately to show Celtic and Rangers that they can not dictate who can or can’t referee their fixtures.
As quoted by the Daily Record on Wednesday (3 April) he said: “John will be delighted to get it because it’s a seal of approval from the SFA.
“It’s also a wee message to the clubs in general that clubs will not dictate to the SFA or to the referees’ department who is put in charge of their games. Or who is not.
“Referees will get their games on merit regardless of who has criticised them. And John’s not just been criticised by Celtic or by Brendan Rodgers. John will have had criticism throughout the season, as every other referee will have had. That’s just the nature of the beast and part of the job.”
Who will referee Rangers’ Old Firm showdown with Celtic at Ibrox?
No matter who was given the referee’s whistle for this Old Firm showdown, the cries of conspiracy would have been echoing from both sides of Glasgow because every football fan believes a certain official has it out for their club.
Beaton has been involved in his share of controversy so far this season, but he will do as good a job as anyone at Ibrox on Sunday, as the standard of refereeing across the board in Scotland this season has been dismal.
Hopefully, Sunday’s meeting won’t be marred in controversy as it would be a massive shame if one of the biggest games of not only the weekend but potentially the season was decided by a piece of poor officiating.
Whether Rangers and Celtic agree with the message the SFA have sent them is no longer important, but Beaton will now have a lot of pressure on him to get every decision right after the authorities made such a bold call.
In other Rangers news, Stephen McGinn has been left enraged by a “mental” incident involving Scott Wright against Hibernian
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