Graeme Souness accuses Celtic hero Chris Sutton of trying to influence VAR with 'biased' commentary
Souness wondered whether Sutton's reaction to Fabio Silva spot kick check for Nick Walsh's benefit.
Graeme Souness has accused Chris Sutton of trying to influence VAR with his BIASED commentary of Rangers' penalty against Celtic.
Ref John Beaton had initially booked Gers forward Fabio Silva for diving after he went down under a challenge from Alistair Johnston. But VAR Nick Walsh urged him to take a second look on the monitor. The upshot was that Silva was cleared despite the Canadian appearing to get the ball and not much of the Portuguese, and Beaton pointed to the spot, allowing James Tavernier to get the hosts back into an enthralling game that eventually ended all square at 3-3.
Sutton was on co-commentary duty for Sky Sports and branded Silva a diver, before lambasting Beaton for an "embarrassing climb down" over the spot kick call. Souness was on the same page as Sutton regarding Silva, but suggested he could have been trying to influence VAR during the check with his partisan punditry.
"It's 100 per cent a penalty," Souness told talkSport. "And I'll tell you, Silva is a diver. He is a diver and he's embarrassing himself. I'm sure they're talking about it up in Scotland but that was a penalty. The defender cut him across the knees with his dangling foot. It's a penalty, he's brought him down.
"I'm reluctant to in strong on Chris Sutton because he turned up at a charity event for me two weeks ago. We chatted together and he's funny. He did a bit for me and I thank him again for that. It was a dinner in Glasgow for the DEBRA charity.
"But I can't believe how biased Chris is when he's talking about Rangers. He was saying, 'It's embarrassing, it's not a penalty’. It was a penalty! It's easily a penalty. It's not even a discussion to have.
"And I'm wondering, do VAR listen to the commentary during a game? Because I'm thinking Chris is going that strong here, he's trying to influence whoever could be listening in the VAR studio.
"VAR in Scotland is different, it's not at Stockley Park, is it? They've got their own VAR there. Do they listen to the commentary? I thought Chris has gone that mad on this, he's trying to influence someone in VAR."
Having shared his theory about Sutton, Souness then returned his aim to the man who sparked the Record Sport columnist's ire. He said: "I come back to your man Silva - he's causing a problem for himself. He won't get penalties or fouls in the future because of his theatrics. But that, in my opinion, was 100 per cent a penalty."