Motherwell's £5,000 Fine Upheld Over Controversial VAR Penalty

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 ban cut.

An independent Scottish FA appeal panel upheld the original decision to punish the club over a social media post aimed at referee John Beaton’s VAR-assisted call for handball against Sam Nicholson in the dramatic 3-2 defeat.

The club’s message, posted shortly after full-time, carried the line “as the world of football mocks our game” alongside a video montage of the incident that led to the spot-kick. Kelechi Iheanacho buried the penalty with virtually the final kick, sealing Celtic’s win and lighting the fuse on the fallout that followed.

Motherwell argued the sanction was excessive. The panel disagreed. The £5,000 fine stands.

Watt, now at Samsunspor in Turkey, has fared better. The former Motherwell midfielder was originally hit with a four-match suspension for branding the decision the “worst VAR decision in history” on his X account.

His punishment has now been trimmed to a two-game ban, with a further two matches suspended until the end of next season. Any further breach, and those extra games will come into play.

Both Motherwell and Watt were found to have breached rules prohibiting criticism of match officials that suggests “bias or incompetence” – a line Scottish football continues to test in the VAR era.

The same flashpoint has already dragged another high-profile figure into disciplinary trouble. Rangers manager Derek McInnes, who was Hearts boss at the time, had his own punishment eased last week. His immediate three-game touchline ban was reduced to two matches after he appealed comments made in a TV interview, when he called the decision “disgusting” and claimed “we are up against everybody.”

One incident. Three separate punishments. VAR may be here to stay, but the arguments around it in Scotland are only getting louder.