CELTIC’s controversial win over Hearts was ended without the referee blowing the final whistle due to a little-known rule.
The Hoops won the game 3-1 and landed their 56th Scottish league title.
Celtic fans invaded the pitch during the win over Hearts Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
They were celebrating Celtic’s late goal Credit: Alamy
But the game ended in controversy as fans stormed the pitch as Callum Osmand netted the third goal for the hosts in the 97th minute.
Despite there being around 30 seconds left to play referee Don Robertson never restarted the action.
In the aftermath, said there were in the incident.
They slammed the ‘menacing and threatening’ scenes as the fans flooded the pitch.
The Jambos had to leave the stadium and board their team bus immediately.
The club has since released a statement and questioned that the game was ended by the pitch invasion and not by the match officials.
SPFL bosses have insisted that the game was correctly ended and not abandoned.
The Scottish FA have released audio which shows that the match ended after Robertson called the end AFTER the eight minutes of injury time had been played.
The result saw Celtic win yet another SPL title Credit: Kenny Ramsay
This came after Hearts manager Derek McInnes had CALLED for the game to end due to the safety concerns of his players.
This saw the game ended by the officials despite the lack of a final whistle being blown.
This is allowed by a little-known rule that states: “The decisions of the referee regarding facts connected with play are final.”
A statement from the Scottish FA read: “In the interests of transparency, we are happy to set out the facts.
“Regarding references to a ‘premature ending of the match’, the Scottish FA’s Chief Governance Officer, Gary Booth, the Head of , William Collum, and Manager Martin Atkinson reviewed the audio-visual footage of the period in question on Monday at the club’s request, with Mr Paterson in attendance.
“While it was the agreed intention for this meeting to be conducted privately, recent statements have compelled us to consider the public interest in providing clarification and chronology.
“It was made clear at that meeting that the match official, Don Robertson, took the correct action in ending the game.
“We note there has been speculation regarding the blowing of a final whistle.
Referee Don Robertson ended the game without blowing the whistle Credit: PA
Callum Osmand score the final goal of the match Credit: Reuters
“The Laws of the Game require the referee to signal the end of the match, but do not prescribe the method of that signal.
“In the context of what unfolded – which is verified by the footage and the Match Incident Report submitted to the Scottish FA – the match official clearly communicated that the match was ended and not abandoned.
“In addition, the match clock does not stop when a goal is scored.
“The footage shows that when the match official confirms the game has ended, the clock is at 53.07 [98.07], more than the minimum additional time of eight minutes signalled.
“It was also apparent from the audio that this decision was taken following dialogue with the Hearts Head Coach, who had intimated concerns over player safety.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Law 5 of the IFAB Laws of the Game state that ‘the decisions of the referee regarding facts connected with play are final’.”
“We fully support the decisive action taken by Don Robertson and his team to end the game.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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