Rangers player faces action from authorities over Celtic comments made at Ibrox
Rangers midfielder Nico Raskin should face action from the SFA over refereeing comments made after the win against Celtic, according to Keith Hackett.
Raskin captained Rangers to a superb 3-0 victory over Celtic on Thursday (2 December) in which only one player really disappointed.
Speaking to reporters at Ibrox after the match, as relayed by The National [2 December], the 23-year-old said he found it “weird” referee Don Robertson did not send off Callum McGregor.
McGregor dodged a yellow card for squaring up to Raskin late in the first half when already on a booking, whereas the Rangers ace entered Robertson’s book.
Having publicly questioned the official, former PGMOL chief Hackett exclusively told Ibrox News: “The referee acts on what he sees and he clearly saw Raskin’s offence and judged that to be a yellow card.
“I suggest that he may not have witnessed the actions of McGregor and that is why the player did not receive a sanction, which would of course have been a second yellow card.
“VAR is unable to intervene on yellow card offences and that is the shortfall in the current criteria.
“Raskin, in making these public comments, is been disingenuous and his comments should get him into trouble with the authorities.
“I believe that the referee delivered a top-class performance. His movement and positioning enabled him to view incidents and judge them accurately.
“It was by far the best refereeing performance I have witnessed this season to date. I am sure that the Scottish FA will judge Raskin’s remarks and determine if further action is required.”
Nico Raskin may face SFA action for Rangers v Celtic comment
It will add insult to injury should the SFA deem these comments from Raskin worthy of looking into.
In fairness, he was not saying anything that was not true. If he was booked for his coming together with McGregor, the Celtic player should also have been cautioned.
As Hackett says, VAR cannot intervene, and so McGregor can consider himself very lucky indeed.
At the same time, staying at 11 players on each side certainly did not work against the Gers as they added to their 1-0 half-time lead with two more goals in the second period.
It was otherwise a relatively stress-free afternoon for the referee on the field, although events off it – slammed by Chris Sutton on Sky Sports – means the fallout could continue for a while longer yet.
In other Rangers news, Jim White has reacted to events at Ibrox.
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