The KMI panel have ran the rule over the big calls from last weekend’s clash in the capital

09:38, 09 May 2026

The SFA’s Key Match Incident panel have unanimously ruled that the decision to allow Hibs’ equaliser in their 2-1 loss to Celtic to stand was the CORRECT one.

Martin O’Neill’s men kept their title hopes alive with a big three points in the capital, with Kelechi Iheanacho netting a late winner after Joe Newell had cancelled out Daizen Maeda‘s opener.

But the game was certainly not without incident.

First, Maeda went down in the area under a challenge from Easter Road stopper Jordan Smith but on field referee David Dickinson and the VAR team and Clydesdale House felt that the decision not to grant Celtic an early spot kick was a correct.

The technology was then again on 21 minutes to upgrade Jamie McGrath’s rash challenge on Alistair Johnston from a yellow to a red card, leaving David Gray’s team with something of a mountain to climb.

Japan star Maeda’s goal on 42 minutes was then subjected to a lengthy VAR check for a possible offside in the build-up, a delay that has baffled interim Hoops boss O’Neill.

In the dying seconds of the first half, VAR then determined that Newell’s equaliser should be allowed to stand, despite the ball making contact with the Hibs midfielder’s arm before he fired home.

And while the KMI panel have agreed with the outcome of those four calls, they have determined that VAR should have stepped in to award Celtic a second half penalty for a foul by Josh Campbell on Benjamin Nygren.

They put the error into the number two category of difficulty level, which details “a simple decision that all officials should get correct.”

Their analysis of the incident read: “The panel unanimously agreed that the on-field decision was incorrect.

“The panel highlighted VAR should have intervened to recommend an OFR and a penalty should have been awarded.”

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