The "Never Was"... That Was A Penalty.

[franton]

The Inverness v Celtic Willaim Hill Scottish Cup Semi-Final 2015.

Well! We are basically talking about a fiasco; are we not? The incident just prior to half - time, the penalty which was not given, does shine laser-red light, right to the heart of Scottish Football: and if Sporting Integrity is any measure of the health and wellbeing of a society, then to the heart of Scottish Society as well. As an example of a blunder on the field of play by Scottish Football Officials, it is unprecedented in its luminosity. Like the arrival of a long awaited comet, it is staggering in the reality of its appearence.
The penalty, which was not given, was unanimiously agreed to have been a penalty which was not given. I do not think you could argue against that. It was a deliberate hand to ball by the Caley defender, which prevented a certain goal. It should therefore have resulted in a penalty for Celtic, who were already a goal to nothing up on Caley Thistle , on the stroke of half-time and a certain red card for the Caley defender. That, as everyone knows, is the rules and Celtic would have finished the half two goals up against ten men Caley, had the penalty been scored, or else with the bit between their teeth in the second half, one goal up against ten men Caley, with forty five minutes between them, a Hampden Fnal and a jolly good prospect of moving a step closer to a rare but much sought after Scottish Football "Treble." Who would have in these circumstances bet against Celtic winning the match?
Then, step up those Scottish Football Officials. They didn't see it! Despite the the fact that they are well remunerated Scottish professional football referees and their job is to ajudicate the play, they didn't see it! Despite the fact there are three of them, all arranged in a two dimensional linear- plane triangle, all watching the ball and the play; when a player puts his hand up and deflects the trajectory of the ball, a metre away from crossing the line for a goal, to travelling in the completely opposite direction, directly away from the goal; they alone in the Hampden crowd and everyone watching on T.V. as well, did not see the ball handled. They each deliberately had, or should have had the the best seat in the house, in order to see it, yet they didn't. You have to ask "Why Not?" Or else, given the nature of football as a professional, nationally competeive sport, with high stakes along with "Winners And Losers", you have to ask "Are You Serious?" In which case Sporting Integrity is up for debate.
Could it have been Professional Incompetence or was it Cheating? Celtic were certainly cheated whatever way you look at it! Had the correct decision been given, Celtic would have almost certainly have won the match. No thinking gambler would then likely have bet against them! That no decision was given and the game carried on as if nothing had happened was as unlikely as the appearing of the predicted comet suddenly disappearing; as if by some Chinese Dragon which was once thought to be devouring the sun during a solar eclipse! That could have been what it seemed like to the Celtic players close to the incident, judging by their reaction to the "Play On" non-action of the match officials and to all the Celtic supporters watching the game! It was as everyone knows a pivotal point in the course of the game. Like the proverbial last straw which broke the camels' back, the looking away of the match officials could not have been more decisive in deciding the outcome of the game than had they abandoned the match right after the kick off and awarded the game to Inverness! Celtic are entitled to be agrieved. They are entitled to ask questions and they are entitled to get their answers.