The Hoops manager believed his side should have been granted a penalty during their 2-1 victory over Aberdeen in midweek.
The SFA’s Key Match Incident panel have unanimously supported the on-field decision not to give Celtic a penalty in their 2-1 triumph against Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Wednesday evening.
With the match tied at 1-1 in the closing stages of the first half, the visiting side felt they were due a spot kick when Sebastian Tounekti’s cross struck the arm of a Dons defender inside the box. The situation was reviewed by VAR and match referee Nick Walsh but was swiftly waved away.
After the match, Celtic boss Martin O’Neill expressed surprise that a penalty had not been awarded, even though his team went on to claim the win thanks to Benjamin Nygren’s late goal, with the Swede scoring past Dimitar Mitov following one of the tightest offside decisions.
However, all three members of the KMI panel agreed that Milne’s handball did not warrant a penalty being given. They also unanimously backed Walsh’s decision to award Aberdeen a penalty of their own that allowed the hosts to draw level. Liam Scales was penalised for a foul on Pittodrie forward Toyosi Olusanya, giving stand-in captain Kevin Nisbet the chance to smash home an equaliser from 12 yards.
Speaking to 67 Hail Hail, former FIFA and English Premier League referee Mark Clattenberg reckoned the penalty was certainly of a soft nature. He said: “Toyosi Olusanya is backing into Liam Scales and the Celtic defender swings a boot and he makes contact with the Dons striker.
“The contact is a soft one and once the referee awards the penalty then VAR will not interfere. That said, I am sure if the referee does not give this penalty, the VAR would also not interfere.
“The defender certainly took a risk in trying to play the ball and I think the attacker is clever in moving his leg across to create the contact.”
The KMI panel also concluded that the Hoops were correct to be given a dramatic late penalty that helped them recover from 2-0 down to earn a share of the points against Rangers at Ibrox last weekend.
Gers surged into a strong advantage thanks to a well-taken brace from Youssef Chermiti, before Kieran Tierney reduced the deficit early in the second half.
Then in the first minute of stoppage time, the visitors were awarded the opportunity to score from the spot when Daizen Maeda’s header struck the arm of versatile Rangers player Dujon Sterling.
On-field referee John Beaton initially missed the incident but later pointed to the spot after being advised to review the VAR monitor by Steven McLean at Barclay House.
Reo Hatate’s resulting penalty was saved by Jack Butland, who reacted sharply to deny a rebound from the Japanese midfielder before Hatate finally fired the ball home at the third attempt.