(Credit: Imago)

SFA unfazed by Rangers threat after 'unacceptable' development - Exclusive

Refereeing Consultant AUTHORITY Former FIFA Referee; Head of PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited). Focus: Laws of the Game, VAR implementation, officiating performance, and PGMOL policy. THE AUDIT Keith utilises Statscore’s Officiating Telemetry, including Deep-Data Metrics like Incident Accuracy Rates, VAR Intervention Latency, and Official Positional Efficiency. He provides technical refereeing analysis to reveal the regulatory reality behind match-defining decisions.

Published on:

19 May 2025, 12:10 pm

Rangers concluded their 2024-25 campaign with a draw at Hibernian, but the fallout from that game looks set to rumble on for a while longer yet.

Nico Raskin had a goal contentiously ruled out to put Rangers two goals ahead after Cyriel Dessers had opened the scoring.

The officials, with no goal-line technology in operation, did not believe all of the ball had crossed all of the line, much to the disbelief of Raskin and his Rangers colleagues.

To make matters worse, Kieron Bowie went up the other end and equalised for Hibs, before Raskin and Martin Boyle went on to exchange goals in an entertaining 2-2 draw at Easter Road.

Raskin had a goal wrongly ruled out against Hibernian (Credit: Imago)

John Brown makes on-air corruption allegation

Rangers TV pundit John Brown spoke on behalf of most Gers fans when he accused the SFA of "corruption" due to the nature of the incident.

Those actions were always likely to hand Brown and Rangers in trouble, and so it has proved as widespread reports on Monday (19 May) suggested the SFA is looking into the comments.

Position	Team	Played	Points
1st	Celtic	38	92
2nd	Rangers	38	75
3rd	Hibernian	38	58
4th	Dundee United	38	53

Scottish Premiership 2nd Phase Championship Group

However, Rangers were quick to themselves hit back, with Rangers Review journalist Chris Jack sharing a club statement in response via X (19 May).

In the statement, Rangers threatened to take the matter further by defending themselves should they or Brown be charged by the governing body.

Rangers' 2-2 draw with Hibernian was Barry Ferguson's last in charge (Credit: Imago)

Keith Hackett slams 'unacceptable' Brown remark

However, former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett insists the SFA will be unfazed by Rangers' response and will still push ahead with charging Brown.

"The remark was unacceptable - you cannot question the integrity of match officials," Hackett exclusively told Ibrox News.

"The fact that the Scottish Premier League does not operate with Goal Line Technology is frankly unacceptable and amazing.

"You are relying on the assistant referee been behind the flag looking right down the goal line to determine if the whole of the ball has crossed over the goal line. There is also the risk of the ball being covered by defenders /attackers

"However, I'm sure that the SFA will charge the individual for the unacceptable remark. The fact that it will take time if Rangers defend themselves should not be a worry for the SFA. They have to deliver and uphold the integrity of any competition."

Keith Hackett