The Scottish Football Association has confirmed that John Beaton and his family spent Thursday night at home under police protection after the referee’s personal information was leaked online.
It follows Beaton’s controversial decision to award Celtic a penalty following a VAR check against Motherwell on Wednesday night.
Beaton ruled that Motherwell’s Sam Nicholson committed a handball when he fired a long throw into the box. Kelechi Iheanacho converted the ensuing penalty in the 100th minute to give Celtic a 3-2 win at Fir Park, with a point difference between them and Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts in Saturday’s title decider at Celtic Park, live on Sky Sports.
“The Scottish Football Association condemns in the strongest possible terms any attempt to jeopardize the safety of match officials,” it said in a statement.
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Highlights of the Scottish Premiership match between Motherwell and Celtic
“Such alarmism, motivated by decisions that appear to be right or wrong on the playing field, is a disaster for our national game and we are grateful to Police Scotland for their swift intervention.
“Sadly, we are also clear that this is the inevitable result of the growing criticism, intolerance and scapegoating displayed by media pundits, supporters, official supporter groups, clubs, players, managers and former match officials this season.
“As an association we do not make that point lightly, but this is an inconvenient truth. Those who have conspired to shift blame onto match officials to deflect from defeats and perceived injustices throughout the season have fostered an environment that puts the safety of our staff and match officials at risk.”
“Referees are not infallible. Mistakes will be made on the field and subjective decisions may be made in front of the VAR monitor, just as a manager may pick the wrong team. A goalkeeper concedes a soft goal, a striker misses from five yards out. But the reactions to these inevitabilities could not be more contrasting.”
Scottish FA
“This is the result of hysterical media coverage, fueled by irresponsible post-match media interviews, commentary and posts on official social media. Its cumulative effect impacts on our ability to provide adequate refereeing to service the match at every level. If it compromises the safety and health of our most senior match officials, enough is enough.”
“Referees are not infallible. Mistakes will be made on the field, and subjective decisions will be made in front of the VAR monitor, just as a manager may pick the wrong team. A goalkeeper concedes a soft goal, a striker misses from five yards out. But the reactions to these inevitabilities could not be more contrasting.”
“What happened yesterday is not an isolated incident. There are many examples of match officials being placed in toxic situations, but some are afraid to speak out for fear of making the situation worse or causing further anxiety to their friends, family and colleagues.
Nicholson was ruled to have been penalized for handball.
“We will not allow this to become the norm. We will not allow a situation where match officials require special measures to protect children at school to be considered an industrial accident.”
“We cannot allow a situation where the coping strategy is to stay at home with the door locked and avoid the risks of public interaction.
“Scottish Football Association will seek to strengthen the rules to better protect players who are essential to the game and will urge players who will no doubt join us in condemning incidents such as this to support those proposals rather than join in their evisceration in self-protection.
“As we approach the exciting finale of the season, we ask those who personalized and exaggerated their opinions, those who sought easy solutions by blaming defeats on perceived refereeing errors, and those who approved inflammatory statements and posts, to reflect on the contribution they have made to creating an environment of intimidation, fear and alarm.
“We urge tolerance and perspective to prevent further unimaginable escalation.”
