Hearts seek clarity on ‘unwarranted’ Devlin red

Heart of Midlothian has suggested that Cammy Devlin’s red card during Saturday’s Scottish Cup semi-final loss to Aberdeen was not

“warranted” and will demand an explanation from the Scottish FA.

The Tynecastle team also asserts that Devlin’s termination was the most recent instance of their team losing games due to subpar

refereeing this season.

Devlin received a second yellow card just before Oday Dabbagh’s game-winning goal two minutes before the end of extra time at

Hampden, with Neil Critchley’s team already reduced to ten players following Michael Steinwender’s consecutive red card.

The SFA’s significant match incident evaluations of video assistance referee (VAR) judgements, according to a statement on their website,

do not support the frequently cited assertion that decisions balance out during the season.

“A cursory glance at the KMI (key match incident) review panel published reports show that we have benefitted once from errors in our

favour – the joint second lowest in the Premiership – and have suffered four errors against – the joint second highest in the Premiership,”

said Hearts.

After the Aberdeen striker was ruled offside, Hearts head coach Neil Crichley contested the referee’s initial decision to book Devlin for a

challenge on Papa Gueye in the 76th minute.

Critchley said Devlin would not have noticed Dante Polvara arriving late as he attempted to clear just beyond the penalty box, which led to

the 26-year-old Australia midfielder receiving a second yellow card.

“It is the club’s view that neither yellow card issued to Cammy Devlin in the match was warranted and we should not have been put in the

position of having to finish the game with nine men, which directly affected the outcome,” Hearts stated.

“Saturday followed a string of other judgements that haven’t gone our way this season.

“Once again, we will engage with the Scottish FA in an attempt to understand why these decisions are made, see acknowledgement as to

when they are indeed wrong and determine what can be done to learn from them to ensure that they are not repeated.”

Hearts claim that they “prefer to air our grievances in private” and have “maintained dialogue” on such issues with the governing body

throughout the season.

On this particular occasion, however, they felt that “public silence on our part should not be mistaken for inaction” because of “the

magnitude of the occasion and what was at stake.”

They continued: “To have nearly 22,000 Jambos inside Hampden Park was an incredible feat and your support undoubtedly inspired the

team on the pitch to battle until the very end, where, against all odds, it looked as if the players had earned the opportunity to take the

match to penalty kicks, and deservedly so.”

With five games left in the bottom six, Hearts, currently ranked seventh in the Scottish Premiership, must avoid relegation.

“The club has recently publicly declared that this season has not been good enough and it is our intention not to see it repeated,” they

stated.