UEFA has Set Precedent on Replaying Game after Celtic Lodge Request

UEFA has already set a precedent on replaying a match, as Celtic had a goal wrongly disallowed in their Europa League defeat by Braga.

Celtic fell to a 2-0 Europa League league phase defeat to the Portuguese side on Thursday, thanks to strikes from Ricardo Horta and Gabri Martinez, but they will undoubtedly feel hard done by a hugely controversial refereeing decision.

The biggest talking point of the game was when Kelechi Iheanacho’s second-half goal was ruled out.

The Nigerian forward took advantage of a loose pass before dispatching a calm finish past Lukas Hornicek to the delight of the Celtic crowd.

However, VAR Christian Dingert advised referee Tobias Stieler to disallow the goal because of a handball, despite the ball clearly bouncing off a defender before striking Iheanacho in the face before he raced away towards goal.

Initially, TNT Sports commentator and former Hoops goalkeeper Joe Hart asked, “What are they looking for?” as the confusion went on before branding the decision “ridiculous”.

“I presume there’s a bad Wi-Fi connection because that must be the only reason we aren’t just getting on with this game,” Hart said in the moments before the referee ruled the goal out.

Then, after the match, Iheanacho himself claimed that the call was “an awful decision” from the officials, while head coach Brendan Rodgers appeared perplexed when saying that he was “still waiting to hear what the reason” for the decision was.

Given the result and the fact that Celtic are now without a win in their first two Europa League matches this term, some supporters may be hoping that the game is replayed.

But how likely is this, and has it happened before?

Unfortunately for Celtic, it appears that European football’s governing body tends not to sanction replays of matches, although there are some examples of when matches have been replayed.

In April 2015, England Under-19 women replayed the final seconds of their European Championship qualifier against Norway after UEFA admitted the referee made a mistake during the initial fixture following an incorrect penalty decision.

Leah Williamson scored from 12 yards, but the goal was disallowed after referee Marija Kurtes adjudged that an England player had entered the box before she struck the ball.

UEFA ordered that the match be replayed from the point of the penalty.

That was the only high-profile example of a match being at least partially replayed due to an incorrect refereeing decision.

UEFA regulations do allow for partial replays if a match is not played in full due to reasons such as weather, stadium issues or security, but if a referee applies the laws incorrectly, it is unlikely.

No official UEFA documentation states that a match should be replayed due to a misapplication of the laws of the game, therefore, a replay of Celtic vs Braga is highly unlikely.