The Scottish Premiership referee has been placed under police surveillance in the wake of the controversy following Celtic’s dramatic win over Motherwell.
A teenager has been arrested and charged over a data protection offence after personal information relating to football referee John Beaton was leaked online following the penalty controversy in Celtic’s win over Motherwell.
Officers from Police Scotland made the arrest after the whistler had been placed under police surveillance in the wake of the match on Wednesday evening. The official has been at the centre of the discussion after a late penalty allowed the title race with Hearts to go down to the final day.
Cops were alerted on Thursday night after it was discovered that Mr Beaton’s address and personal details had been leaked on social media.
A Police Scotland statement read: “A 19-year-old man who was earlier arrested, has now been charged in connection with a data protection offence, following a complaint of personal information being shared online relating to a Scottish football official. He is due to appear at Hamilton Sheriff Court at a later date.”
On Friday, as the debate over the voracity of the penalty award raged on, the Scottish Football Association (SFA) released a hard-hitting statement claiming the official had been “scapegoated”.
Beaton’s decision to award the spot-kick came in the dying seconds of injury time and gave the visitors a 3-2 win Motherwell has been labelled by some critics as the “worst-ever in VAR”.
Sam Nicholson became embroiled in an aerial challenge with Hoops defender Auston Trusty in the dying seconds of the match at Fir Park, with the contest finely poised at 2-2. Following a battle between the pair for Anthony Ralston’s long-throw, with Nicholson having cleared, Andrew Dallas in the VAR room stepped in to alert referee Beaton to a handball incident – who subsequently awarded the spot-kick and Kelechi Iheanacho converted from 12 yards.
Had the match stayed level, Celtic would have faced Hearts on Saturday knowing a three-goal victory was required to clinch the Scottish title. Instead, the Jam Tarts go into Saturday’s (12.30pm kick-off) showdown with Celtic needing to avoid defeat in order to end the two Glaswegian teams’ strangehold at the summit of Scottish football.
Earlier today, the SFA issued a scathing statement torching those who have ‘scapegoated’ Beaton.
The statement read: “John Beaton and his family spent last night at home under police surveillance following a leak of personal details online.
“The Scottish FA condemns in the strongest possible terms attempts to compromise the safety of match officials. Such vigilantism, motivated by decisions perceived to be right or wrong on a field of play, is a scourge on our national game and we are grateful to Police Scotland for their swift intervention.
“We are also clear, sadly, that this is the inevitable consequence of the heightening criticism, intolerance and scapegoating demonstrated this season by media pundits, supporters, official supporters’ groups, clubs, players, managers and former match officials.
“We do not make that point lightly as the national association. Yet it is an inconvenient truth. Those who have sought to apportion blame and conspiracy towards match officials to deflect from defeats or perceived injustices throughout the season have contributed to an environment that puts the safety of our staff and match officials in jeopardy.
“This is the consequence of a hysterical media narrative, fuelled by irresponsible knee-jerk post-match media interviews, commentary and official social media posts. The cumulative effect impacts on our ability to provide enough referees to service our game at all levels. When it compromises the safety and wellbeing of our most senior match officials, enough is enough.
“Referees are not infallible. Mistakes will be made on the field, and subjective calls made in front of the VAR monitor, just as managers will pick the wrong team, goalkeepers concede soft goals and strikers miss from five yards out. Yet the reaction to these inevitabilities could not be more contrasting.
“What happened yesterday is not an isolated incident. There are many examples of match officials being placed in harmful situations but with individuals fearful of speaking out lest it exacerbates the situation or causes further alarm to friends, family and colleagues.
“We will not allow this to become the norm. We will not allow a situation where match officials require special provision to protect their children at school to be considered an occupational hazard. We will not allow a situation where staying at home with the front door locked and avoiding the hazards of public interaction becomes a coping strategy.
“The Scottish FA will be seeking to strengthen its rules to better protect those integral to the game and urge those who will doubtless join us in condemning incidents like this to support those proposals, not contribute to their watering-down on the basis of self-preservation.
“As we approach what should be an exciting finale to the season, we ask those who have personalised and hyperbolised their opinions, those who have sought the easy way out by attributing defeats to perceived refereeing errors, and those who have approved incendiary statements and posts to reflect on their contribution to creating an environment of intimidation, fear and alarm.
“We urge tolerance and perspective to prevent any further, unthinkable escalation.”
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