Ian Maxwell urges clubs to quit 'convenient' VAR and referee blame culture

Ian Maxwell has claimed Scottish football needs to stop playing the blame game and alleviate the unsustainable pressure that is being cranked up on match officials and VAR operators.

It comes after the SFA’s head of referee operations Crawford Allan confirmed he is stepping down at the end of the season. Allan has found himself constantly in the firing line from managers and supporters for a string of controversial decisions, with VAR being at the heart of a lot of them.

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has recently been hit with an SFA charge for comments made about John Beaton after he was in charge of VAR in their recent defeat to Hearts, while Rangers also requested Willie Collum was taken off the Ibrox club game’s list after the Old Firm furore in December. SFA chief executive Maxwell said: “While there is a recognition that, globally, the VAR processes need to improve, this is a challenge for all key stakeholders within Scottish football to work through in the context of our own domestic competition.

“This includes all key external stakeholders having a better understanding of the laws of the game, the lines of intervention for VAR, and the adopted guidance within Scottish football, especially in subjective areas such as the handball law. We must work together to alleviate the unsustainable pressure on match officials and VAR operators, to remove the convenient blame culture attached to subjective or unpopular decisions, and to ensure more focus is placed on the entertainers rather than the on-field facilitators. We will continue conversations and improvements with all stakeholders with this as a non-negotiable and unifying premise as we seek to improve the experience for all.”

This weekend it was Motherwell manager