Kirk Broadfoot condemned for diving

The furore over referees' performances in the SPL has been kept on the boil after a seemingly unsighted Willie Collum adjudged Rangers' Kirk Broadfoot to have been felled by Celtic's Daniel Majstorovic. But Clark believes that should not "be the starting point".

"The root of the problem here was Kirk Broadfoot taking a dive," the retired official said. "How many people have asked difficult questions of Kirk Broadfoot for taking a dive?

"People go on to me about how we can help match referees, we should get video analysis, goal-line technology, all the rest of it. The thing we need is greater honesty from all those in the game; players, managers, coaches, directors.

"What I want to know is why people are much more eager to condemn Willie Collum after the Old Firm match than condemn Kirk Broadfoot."

Clark believes it is part of a wider malaise: "From when they are children, challenging everything the referee does is inculcated in football. The referees are clowns. In no other sport is that the way of it. In every other sport you are educated to obey what the umpire or referee says. And to a greater or lesser extent that is observed. In football that is quite the opposite."

Braodfoot rejected out of hand any wrong-doing in the incident that led to his team's third goal at Celtic Park.

"Of course there was contact - I'm not gong to sit here and say I dived," he said. "There was no way. If you look back at it a million times he's hit me and has knocked me off balance. It's a penalty."

Broadfoot said he "wasn't surprised" at the fall-out from Celtic Park. "It's the same with every Old Firm game. They seem to pick on something and seem to keep it going for three or four days after the match. That's just the way it is with the Old Firm. You just need to be big and strong to deal with it."