CHRIS SUTTON, the former Celtic striker, has waded into the row over the Parkhead club controversially not being awarded a crucial penalty for a handball in Sunday's William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final by claiming assistant official Alan Muir 'must be an idiot' not to have seen it.

 

Muir was just a few yards away from Inverness Caledonian Thistle player Josh Meekings when Leigh Griffiths' goal-bound shot, which would have made the score 2-0, smacked off his fist seconds before half-time. Despite large claims from Celtic's players and thousands of their supporters inside the National Stadium, Muir and referee Steven McLean failed to acknowledge the infringement.

It was a decision that played a big part in a tight encounter that the Highland side would go on to win 3-2 in extra-time to reach their first ever Scottish Cup final and deny their opponents the opportunity to build further towards the fourth treble in their history.

Sutton, along with countless others, was dumbfounded by the incident which changed the course of the match, and has called for the officials who made the error to be held accountable for what he describes as 'an absolute shocker'.

He said: "It all came down to one decision which looking at it over the last couple of days is an absolute shocker. Everyone must be saying the same thing about it.

"I don't understand really what the officials [behind the goal] - whatever they are called - have done or if they have ever made a decision. It's alright to say he is unsighted, but he can't miss that. Maybe he needs to go on a course where someone throws a ball from the side and it hits an arm and you can ask him what happened. The referee should have seen it too, I went home and watched it and he had a good view of it.

"It was just idiotic how he didn't see it. It wasn't a conspiracy, I just can't remember a decision that bad from someone standing so close. There is no way he could have thought that ball hit the player on the head, he must be an idiot not to see it. It's just ridiculous. It's his one job to assist the referee."

Sutton added: "I do think he should be punished in some respect. He wasn't up to the job and it wasn't a difficult one.

"There should be accountability. That's the one thing whatever way you look at it. If we were all in that position we wouldn't have missed it so you have to question what on earth he was looking at."

The Scottish Premiership champions have since written to the Scottish Football Association seeking clarification on the non award after being 'inundated' by furious fans.

While Sutton understands their frustrations, the 42-year-old, who was speaking at the launch of the John Hartson Foundation's new testicular cancer awareness campaign, fails to see the point in looking for an explanation for the mistake.

He said: "The SFA will write back and just say he didn't see it. You know what's going to happen and it's a waste of a stamp.

"I think it's just possibly to show their frustration and I can totally understand that. I don't play for them anymore but if you are that close to winning a treble for the fourth time in their history and Ronny Deila being only the third manager to do it, it's a big, big thing."

Former team-mate Hartson echoed that sentiment, and added: "I can't fathom out what Celtic are going to gain by writing a letter to the SFA. In 2003 there was a big decision in the League Cup Final where I scored a legitimate goal, I was two yards onside, and it wasn't given. I was angry, I called the ref everything.

"But you dust yourself down and get on with it, unless you're going to bring the referee's honesty into account which is a big call then I don't know what purpose writing a letter is going to serve because it's happened in the past and will happen again."