The Scottish FA seem to have made their decision on the controversial penalty Celtic were handed by John Beaton against Motherwell.
It is safe to say that neither set of fans would have wanted the Celtic vs Motherwell game to be decided by a controversial refereeing decision. But in many ways, it was.
John Beaton was sent to the VAR monitor late in the game after a Motherwell player had seemed to handle the ball in the box. And after having a closer look, the referee pointed to the spot.
At that point, the scoreline was 2-2. Celtic would need to win the final game of the season by three goals against Hearts to win the title. A Herculean task.
But as Kelechi Iheanacho stepped up to the spot and made it 3-2, which is how it finished, the equation in the title race looked a lot different.
Celtic only need to win the final game of the season to secure a fifth straight league title. For Hearts, who sit one point ahead, just avoiding defeat would be enough to win what will go down as a historic achievement in Scottish football.
Unsurprisingly, both Hearts and Rangers fans have seemed unhappy with Beaton's penalty call in the aftermath. Derek McInnes even criticised it publicly. But, now, it looks like the Scottish FA have given their verdict on the decision.
According to The Scottish Sun, Beaton has been reassured that he followed SFA guidelines on handball incidents. The refs’ chief, Willi Collum, is satisfied that the official was correct in pointing to the spot.
That should clear up the controversy regarding the penalty. As it turns out, it looks like Celtic were rightly awarded a spot kick, which they converted. The timing in the game or the situation of the title race should not affect a referee's decision-making, which it did not on this occasion.
Of course, Celtic have been on the receiving end of plenty of wrong decisions this season. There was not as much media frenzy regarding them. For example, just last week, they should have been handed a penalty in the game against Hibernian, which they did not receive. Fortunately, it did not affect the result of the game.
Even from a neutral point of view, Celtic winning was the based thing that could have happened in mid-week.
That has set up this game on the final matchday of the league season. Celtic will take on Hearts. The winner will be crowned champions of Scotland.
This is the closest the title race has been in Scotland in decades. It is a great advert for the Scottish game and should only raise interest.
Join The Conversation
Roundtablesports is Free to join! You can post your own thoughts, comment on articles, and start conversations with our Roundtable Writers. Scroll up to the top of the page and click 'Join'.
Download the FREE Roundtable APP, and get even easier access to your favourite teams and news!