Michael Stewart has launched a a scathing rant directed towards the Scottish FA for their 'gobbledegook justification' of Celtic's penalty in the recent win over Kilmarnock.
Referee John Beaton was advised by VAR official Matthew MacDermid to review footage which showed the ball striking Killie defender Lewis Mayo's hand, after it had deflected up off Robbie Deas' foot from around a yard away.
Missed in real time, the on-field official subsequently awarded a spot kick to the Hoops, and Kelechi Iheanacho stepped up to dispatch on his debut to deal the 2-1 win in controversial circumstances.
Stewart has slammed the SFA over the matter, insisting it has created a 'monster' for future handball incidents.
👀 @mstewart_23, Alan Hutton and @darrellcurrietv on the late penalty awarded for Celtic against Kilmarnock "This is just bizarre! The SFA justification is just absolute gobbledegook!" 🗣️ 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 @sbk | 18+ | 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝐺𝑎𝑚𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑦 pic.twitter.com/Rq0ul4gNPW
— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) September 17, 2025
He spoke alongside Darrell Currie and Alan Hutton on Premier Sports when reviewing the game
"I don't think you can criticise the officials for the first goal (with the incorrect awarding of the throw-in), because those things can happen," Stewart said. "But it rubs salt into Killie's wound when fans realise they've been punished for that, and then this.
"This (Mayo handball) is just bizarre. The SFA's justification is just absolute gobbledegook!
"They're doubling down, they're trying to cover their own backside. It's nonsense.
"Hutts and I, we were there at the start of the season when we had a meeting with Willie Collum and he spoke about these types of things. Stuart Kettlewell came out and spoke about it as well.
"These incidents, there's so much mitigation in that incident, that should lead you to be saying it's not a penalty. It's unbelievable.
"And for them to say that Mayo's arm is in an unnatural position after it flicks up off Deas, no it's not.
"Look at Robbie Deas. It's literally a mirror image. The two of them are in exactly the same position. Do they think that's some sort of weird coincidence where they're both trying to block the ball with their arms?
"This is what really gets my goat. The law now is there, it's actually good law, but it's too wordy and we've gone around the houses and people are all confused.
"Your arm is not in an unnatural position if it's a consequence of the movement. That's exactly what that is! Robbie Deas is standing a foot away from him in an exact mirror image.
"Even if it was the case that the ball hit his arm straight away, I still don't think it should be a penalty because it's a natural position. But the ball has hit off his teammate from a foot away!"
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He added: "This nonsense about unnatural position is total garbage. The hand is in a natural position.
"Darrell, the SFA's explanation was that the penalty awarded for handball, the arm is in an unnatural position. No it was not.
"'A deflection does not always negate a handball offence.' Brilliant, do you want to explain to us why this incident it doesn't negate a handball? Because they've just come out with a general comment there, they're not telling us why it's not negated in this.
"They're coming out with generalisations when they need specifics.
"This is a deflection from a foot away, with the ball going in a completely different direction. It is not a penalty.
"It says 'he doesn't know where the ball is going, and his arm is in an unnatural position to block a shot,' what?
"They're projecting this onto Lewis Mayo, trying to say he's trying to block a shot.
"Hutts will tell you, I'm telling you and I think anybody with any common sense - when you're playing football, it's probably less than one percent of the time when it hits somebody's hand, that they're deliberately trying to block.
"It's very difficult with football fans because it's so partisan, and when it's for your team you lean on the side of why you think it is.
"But I genuinely think, if we all take a step back and you look at that incident, and say 'if that decision is given against my team, would you be accepting of that?'.
"What is Lewis Mayo meant to have done there?
"The other concern here is, I think it was Matthew MacDermid on VAR, that's the crux of the problem here - he should never have got involved. He's made a mistake and John Beaton should've been stronger.
"But it's the catalogue of errors that leads to that decision being made.
"What follows on from this is, if you're any one of the other referees that have got nothing to do with this incident, you're then being told by the SFA that's the right decision. So, we go off in a completely different tangent.
"Next week, when an incident like this happens, refs are thinking 'that's not a penalty,' but they said last week that was the right decision, and all of a sudden you've created an absolute monster."
