NI were unlucky to suffer through glaring mistakes, insists Hackett

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Hackett rapped: “Rarely do you see a referee at international level make one glaring error in a game, let alone two. It was Northern Ireland’s ill luck to encounter such an unfortunate scenario.

“The first mistake was his reaction to a reckless challenge with excessive force that clearly endangered the safety of an opponent (Dallas). Instead of producing a red card for Switzerland’s Fabian Schar, he showed weakness by pulling out of his pocket a yellow.

“Referees must ensure that challenges of this nature are punished correctly in order to send out a clear signal.

“The game may have been dominated by Switzerland, but sadly the game also hinged on another crucial decision with the Romanian referee judging that a Northern Ireland player (Evans) deliberately handled the ball.

“However it was clear on replays that the criteria for handball had not been fulfilled. Evans jumped and turned his back in order to defend a shot from a short distance.

“It was not a deliberate handball as Evans’ arm was by his side when the ball struck. At this level no referee wants to deliver such a massive error.”

Hackett believes these costly errors from Hategan cement the need for video technology to be introduced, but warned: “Video will only operate accurately if the selected VAR (Video Assistant Referee) official is a top performing former or current experienced referee.”