Motherwell's £5,000 Fine Upheld After VAR Controversy
Motherwell have failed in their bid to have a £5,000 fine reduced for their furious reaction to a last-gasp penalty awarded to Celtic at Fir Park in May – but Elliot Watt has seen his suspension cut.
An Scottish FA appeal panel backed the original decision to punish the club over a social media post that followed referee John Beaton’s VAR-assisted call for handball against Sam Nicholson in the dramatic 3-2 defeat.
The post carried the line “as the world of football mocks our game” alongside a video montage of the incident, a clear swipe at the officials in the wake of Kelechi Iheanacho’s winning spot-kick, converted with the final kick of the match.
The governing body ruled that the message crossed the line on criticism of match officials, and the appeal panel agreed, leaving the £5,000 sanction in place.
Watt, now with Samsunspor in Turkey, has fared slightly better. The former Motherwell midfielder was originally hit with a four-game suspension after he branded the decision the “worst VAR decision in history” on his X account.
His punishment has now been trimmed to a two-match ban, with a further two games suspended until the end of next season. The warning is clear: one more serious outburst and the rest of the suspension could be activated.
Both Motherwell and Watt were charged under rules that prohibit comments about referees which suggest “bias or incompetence” – a line the Scottish FA has been keen to draw more starkly in the VAR era.
The case drops into an increasingly heated debate over how far managers and players can go when criticising officials. Just last week, Rangers manager Derek McInnes had his own penalty for comments on the same incident reduced on appeal, from an immediate three-game touchline ban to two.
McInnes, then Hearts boss, had labelled the call “disgusting” in a television interview and claimed “we are up against everybody”, remarks that also triggered disciplinary action.
The message from Hampden is unmistakable: the arguments over VAR can rage on, but those who publicly question a referee’s integrity will keep paying a price.
