The Scottish FA have released a statement on the phantom penalty claim from Rangers during the recent 2-1 Celtic derby win.
The ball hit Alistair Johnston’s hand in the box as he challenged Abdallah Sima in the first half of the Scottish Premiership encounter, which was not judged to have been worthy of a penalty by referee Nick Walsh nor VAR Willie Collum.
It then transpired that even if either official had recommended a penalty, no spot-kick would have occurred due to Sima being offside in the attacking phase of play building up to the incident.
Rangers have been complaining ever since with manager Philippe Clement strangely furious in interviews and the club releasing overwrought statements on the issue.
In response, this evening, the Scottish FA have had their say, stating [Daily Record]: “The Scottish FA is disappointed by contents of the most recent statement issued by Rangers in relation to a match incident during the club’s recent Premiership fixture against Celtic.
“Chief Executive James Bisgrove and Director of Football Operations Creag Robertson attended a private briefing with the Head of Referee Operations, Crawford Allan, to review the incident in question, including the use of matchday audio. We understood from the chief executive that the meeting had been constructive and informative, and conducted amicably.
“This does not appear to be reflected in the club’s statement.
“During the meeting, it was pointed out that the incident in question was a subjective handball and that the VAR did not deem it a sufficiently clear and obvious error to refer to On Field Review.
“Furthermore, the offside would not have been mentioned at the time as it was not part of the VAR’s decision-making on the handball. It was highlighted within Clydesdale House that had the VAR considered the incident to be a handball offence and asked the referee to carry out an On Field Review, the Attacking Phase of Play would have been checked and an offside would have been identified. This supplementary information was relayed to broadcasters in-game, and we are reviewing the process of information dissemination to avoid any perceived ambiguity in future.
“There was an overall consensus that the incident could not have led to a penalty kick being awarded in any event, and that there was no impact on the final outcome of the match.
“Scotland’s VAR protocol is in many ways modelled on the PGMOL system, and we are in regular dialogue with our colleagues in England on knowledge sharing and improvements. VAR has been operational in Scotland for just over a year, whilst it has been operational in England for more than four.
“Since the summer, we have ensured that Key Match Incidents are reviewed and shared with all clubs after every full round of 11 Premiership fixtures, including use of audio. We will continue to do this, along with KMI being shared with the Independent Review Panel for their consideration and opinion.
“Finally, we note posts from a recent official media partner of the club’s detailing requests from the private meeting that were immediately rejected. We would ask that club representatives show greater responsibility in such matters, especially in the context of recent incidents in European football that have compromised the safety of match officials and led to widespread condemnation.”
I dare say that Celtic fans have found this entire episode amusing more than anything. Rangers were never going to a get penalty resulting from this incident due to the offside, regardless of a potential handball, so it seems odd that they are pursuing it so vigorously.
Brendan Rodgers’ side deserved their victory and deserve to be at the top of the table as we start 2024. That’s really all that matters from a Celtic perspective.
If Rangers want to outwardly rage rather than inwardly reflect, I suspect that will be more damaging for them in the long run.
In other news, Thursday Celtic transfer bulletin: Mathias Kvistgaarden & Owen Beck.
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