Celtic were denied a first-half penalty in their Europa League clash with Celta Vigo, prompting furious reactions from pundits and former players. The incident occurred when Callum Osmand went down in the area under contact from Javi Rueda, but referee Georgi Kabakov waved play on, with the VAR team based in Germany opting not to intervene.
Petrov questions referee's experience
Speaking during the half-time break on NT Sports, former Celtic midfielder Stiliyan Petrov expressed his disbelief at the decision. He questioned UEFA's choice to appoint Kabakov, citing the Bulgarian official's limited experience at the top level.
"I just don't know how he (Kabakov) hasn't seen it. There are a lot of questions about Kabakov as he has only refereed four games in the Bulgarian League and six in the Europa League," Petrov said. "I don't know what UEFA are looking into (when they pick referees) but you need to have the consistency to make a decision."
Lennon and Halkett weigh in
Fellow Celtic favourite Neil Lennon, on commentary duty for the same broadcaster, also questioned the decision. "That is beyond me that (why it's not a penalty). It's either a foul outside the box or a penalty," he said. "Why does he (Osmand) go down? He doesn't need to. He is going straight into the box and there is definitely contact, we can see it from up here in the gantry. I don't know what the referee is seeing. Any touch at all can bring you down sometimes as you lose balance."
Hearts centre back Craig Halkett, also on punditry duty, added: "He (the defender) was obviously trying to put Osmand off but I think there was more than a little bit of contact there. You can see the push when Osmand is running through on goal. He has no other reason to go down so I think the defender is really lucky to get away with that."
The incident occurred during the first half at Celtic Park, with the hosts seeking a spot-kick that was ultimately not awarded. Petrov also suggested the challenge could have warranted a red card, noting that Osmand was through on goal.
