Scottish football referee John Beaton has been forced to contact the police after receiving a string of threatening and abusive messages following Rangers 1-0 win over Celtic last weekend.
Beaton came under strong criticism for his performance with many Celtic fans unhappy at his failure to punish Rangers forward Alfredo Morelos for a string of incidents during the match.
The Scottish FA decided not to take retrospective disciplinary action into a number of incidents in the game which Celtic challenged by requesting a meeting with SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell and the association’s head of refereeing John Fleming.
In a statement the club said: “It is reported that no action was taken because the match referee saw all of the incidents in question.
“Given that the referee took no action at the time, this tends to suggest that such conduct, which in one instance led to a Celtic player, Anthony Ralston, being injured, is acceptable in Scottish football. That cannot be right.
“On the day, Celtic did not play well enough to win the match, something we accept. However, this issue goes beyond the result of the match.”
Celtic wanted Beaton to explain his decisions, however, the referee has since been flooded with abusive messages and has contacted the police for assistance.
BREAKING – Press Association understands referee John Beaton has called in police after being targeted with threatening online messages in the wake of last weekend's Old Firm clash. He has been bombarded with abusive texts from trolls after his contact details were leaked online
— Andy Newport (@AndyNewportDR) January 4, 2019
The 36-year-old admitted that he saw three incidents with Morelos, but chose not to punish the Colombian.
VIDEO@RangersFC striker Alfredo Morelos will find out on Thursday if he'll be charged by the @ScottishFA, after he was involved in three incidents during Saturday's Old Firm game with @CelticFChttps://t.co/Kp7KNUY3PJ https://t.co/EdgGSZ8AzF
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) December 31, 2018
