‘Wrong’ call by referee leaves Foran frustrated

RICHIE FORAN, the Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager, last night suggested referee Don Robertson lacked the bravery to send off Celtic defender Erik Sviatchenko in their Ladbrokes Premiership match yesterday.

Sviatchenko bundled over Ross Draper midway through the first half in the game at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium with the scoreline level at 11 as the Inverness midfielder bore down on Dorus de Vries in the Celtic goal.

Foran felt the clumsy challenge had taken place just outside the penalty box and had only merited a freekick – but the Irishman was adamant referee Robertson should have dismissed the Scottish champions’ centre half.

“It was a clear freekick which leads to a clear sending off,” he said. “It was disappointing, very disappointing. You need brave referees at times like that.

“Ross has pushed the ball in front of their player, Ross has got his body in the way and he has been wiped out. It was a clear for anyone to see. I was very disappointed not to get that decision.”

“In fairness to him [Robertson], he had a chat [after the game]. He didn’t think Ross had control of the ball. Obviously, we have had the luxury of seeing it back on TV. He has made the wrong decision.”

Caledonian Thistle earned a draw thanks to a goal from substitute Alex Fisher with just over a minute of regulation time left, but Foran felt the game would have been different if Sviatchenko had been ordered off for Celtic.

“It changed the whole outlook of the game without a doubt,” he said. “If they go to 10 men it gives us a big boost. As I said, it was a disappointing decision. It was quite obvious for the whole stadium to see. The only one who didn’t think it was a freekick was the referee.”

Draper felt that he was inside the Celtic area when he was barged over by Sviatchenko in the 32nd minute and revealed the opposition players had agreed with him that he had been fouled by the Danish defender afterwards.

“It’s a penalty,” he said. “The referee says I’m not in control of the ball. If that’s his reasoning we have to get on with it. We stuck in for a point, but I’m disappointed we didn’t get the decision.”