Celtic coach Martin O’Neill says VAR weakens referees

Martin O’Neill sees VAR He is “exhausted” by officials on the pitch as he described the Scottish Football Association’s process of appealing against decisions as “worthless”.

On Tuesday, Celtic lost their bid to overturn Auston Trusty’s red card against Hibernian.

The club’s statement criticized the referee and called for an urgent review of the use of VAR, complaining that “VAR has once again decided to intervene to reinstate the referee’s initial decision.”

Trusty was sent off after reviewing his cut on Jamie McGrath’s arm, while the pair brawled at a corner, leaving veteran manager O’Neill scratching his head.

He said: “I did the interview after the match and someone asked me if we were going to appeal the ruling, and I thought I’m not really sure about that, appeals in this day and age seem worthless.”

He added: “But when I got information from the club about what was said in VAR, I thought yes, definitely, because the referee saw the incident. It’s not as if he didn’t see it.”

“Then you have a very enthusiastic guy at VAR saying ‘delay, delay, delay’ and they ask him and he says he will speak to the players.

“Then he has to run to change his mind. It’s ridiculous.”