Guidance from Scottish FA as to why Tomas Cvancara wasn’t awarded a penalty for Celtic vs Dundee

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Celtic were on the end of another controversial refereeing decision on Saturday evening.

Tomas Cvancara was the man involved for Celtic, and Dundee’s Luke Graham was the guilty party on the other end.

Thankfully, it didn’t prove to be costly, as Celtic needed extra time to beat Dundee in the Scottish Cup, although life could have been easier if the Hoops were awarded what they thought was a penalty in the first half.

The on-field referee, Ryan Lee, awarded the champions of Scotland a free-kick on the edge of the box after Graham pushed Cvancara. No doubt it was a foul.

Many felt, including Michael Stewart on commentary for Premier Sports, that the challenge was just inside the penalty area, as the Scottish FA explained their reason to not reverse the on-field call.

• READ MORE: Celtic demand answers from the SPFL over postponed Aberdeen fixture with scathing statement

Why Celtic and Tomas Cvancara weren’t awarded a penalty against Dundee

Celtic fans won’t like to hear it, but the Scottish FA have suggested that the ‘holding’ from Graham on Cvancara didn’t continue inside the box.

Therefore, VAR opted against sending the on-field referee to his monitor to check his call and to overturn it.

The powers that be state that the pushing started ‘outside of the box’, and it’s from that point that the Dundee man is ‘punished.’

“We have some guidance from the Scottish FA on the non-award of a penalty for Celtic following a push from Luke Graham on the back of Tomas Cvancara, which resulted in a free-kick just outside the box,” shared BBC Sport.

“Incidents like that can only be punished if it is ‘holding’ that continues inside the box. Pushing can only be punished at the initial point of contact, which started outside the box in this case.”