Rangers will NEVER stop Willie Collum refereeing their games insists SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell
Gers were hit with five charges after they claimed there were “underlying issues’” regarding Collum
THE SFA have told Rangers: You’ll NEVER stop Willie Collum refereeing your games.
Chief executive Ian Maxwell was responding after
Gers were served with a
Notice of Complaint over their criticism of Collum.
Gers were hit with five charges after they claimed there were “underlying issues’” regarding Collum.
Their complaint followed the official’s second yellow to Daniel Candeias against
St Mirren a month ago.
But Maxwell, in Dublin for the Euro 2020 draw, vowed supporting refs remains the SFA’s priority.
Asked if he had concerns about Collum refereeing Gers games, he said: “Absolutely not. We can’t go down that road.
“We only have so many referees in the country and part of this is about attracting referees.
“We need people to referee matches so, no, I have no concerns about who’s refereeing any Rangers game.
“We are not just ticking a box. We want to back our referees, we understand the position they’re in and we understand the job they do for us.
“They’re an integral part of Scottish football. It’s about them knowing we want to back them up and support them.
“Willie is one of the top referees in the country, one of the best we’ve got. He referees on a European and world level and it’s absolutely right that we’re supporting him.
“Willie knows what Willie saw in the game. He knows the decision he made and he knows why he made it. We’re more than happy to back up Willie on that.
“Rangers said what they said in their statement and they’re obviously disappointed with the decision.”
Having taken the first Old Firm game of the season, Collum is unlikely to get the December 29 derby at Ibrox.
But Maxwell insists there’s no chance of him being sidelined for Gers fixtures.
Asked if Rangers’ statement could be inflammatory, he replied: “It’s for the compliance officer to interpret, not me.
“Rangers are perfectly entitled to say what they think, that’s part of football. The Notice of Complaint will be worked through, we’ll see where we end up.
“We’re conscious, though, that referees have an incredibly tough job. There are decisions everybody will hum and haw about but referees make decisions with the best of intentions.
“They’re human, sometimes they get decisions right, sometimes they don’t. The debate that causes is a big part of football.
“Referees get things right a lot more than they get things wrong. VAR at the World Cup showed that.
“Studies showed that correct decisions went up from 93 per cent to 98 per cent. If I was going to my work knowing I was getting 93 per cent of things right, I’d be quite happy with that.
“The Scottish public are hugely passionate and every element of a match, whether it’s the team’s performance, what the manager says, or the referee’s performance, gets scrutinised.”
