Bobby Madden explains why officials were right to disallow controversial Celtic goal

Former referee Bobby Madden has explained why officials reached the correct outcome in disallowing Haissem Hassan’s goal during Celtic’s 1-0 win over St Johnstone.

The Hoops thought they had taken the lead at McDiarmid Park when Hassan found the net, only for the assistant referee to flag after judging that the ball had gone out of play earlier in the move.

Replays appeared to suggest the ball may have remained in play, but VAR was unable to conclusively review the incident because it disappeared from the available camera footage.

That meant there was no definitive evidence to overturn the assistant referee’s on-field decision, something Madden insists was in keeping with VAR protocol.

Madden said on his Instagram: “An interesting situation in the match between St Johnstone and Celtic where Hassan’s goal was disallowed.

“In line with VAR protocols, the assistant referee delayed his flag until the goal was scored.

“In the exact same way as offside, the assistant should allow the play to develop and then confirm his on-field decision.

“VAR would then review the situation and check if the ball went out of play. They would immediately go and check the goal line camera.

“You can see from the footage that the ball is removed from the shot for exactly 1.19 seconds; there is no way for VAR to track the ball’s movement in its entirety.

“With this in mind, there is no clear evidence that the assistant referee made an error.

“In short, you may believe the ball left the field of play, but no one is better placed than the assistant. He followed protocol and flagged when the play was complete.

“In terms of refereeing, this is the correct outcome.”