VAR controversy crops up once again as Hibs’ penalty award against Celtic is discussed once more.
Liam Scales was adjudged to have handled the ball in the Celtic penalty box after the Hoops defender’s outstretched arm made contact as he tried to head the ball away.
Willie Collum looked at the decision in The VAR Review show as the head of referees ‘congratulated’ the VAR team for correctly identifying the Celtic handball.
Liam Scales on the handball penalty decision in Celtic’s win vs Hibs
Scales admitted he knew VAR were going to award the spot kick as soon as he saw the handball was being reviewed and here, former SFA referee Des Roache delivers his verdict on the decision after hearing Willie Collum’s explanation.
Des Roache ‘can understand’ Willie Collum’s Hibs penalty vs Celtic verdict
Scales doesn’t appear to attempt to gain an advantage by handling the ball. In fact, an argument could be raised that the ball glanced off the Celtic defender’s head onto his shoulder, rendering a penalty call invalid.
But that doesn’t seem to be Roache’s view as the ex-SFA whistler appears to agree with Collum over the controversial Celtic decision.
Roache told The Ref’s View [20m], “I think it’s one of those ones, you’re like, ‘Oh, I can see why, I can see not’.
“I can understand it, and I’m OK with it. I think what’s happened is Liam Scales has dipped his head that low, but for balance, his head’s below his shoulder almost, and his shoulder’s out.
“There’s a Hibs player standing right next to him. That [ball] doesn’t hit there, the Hibs player’s got an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.
“I don’t think for a minute that Liam Scales has done it deliberately, but I think a penalty and a yellow card was sufficient there, and I can understand Willie’s explanation of it.”
What Willie Collum actually said about Hibs penalty vs Celtic
Collum has tried to deliver more transparency surrounding VAR and referees in his monthly SFA show but, in truth, there is still a lot of confusion over the handball rule in Scottish football.
Collum said about the Hibs award vs Celtic, “It’s the right decision. I want to congratulate the VAR team here for use of angles.
“Because they find the crucial angle to be able to make a decision on whether this is a handball or not.
“I have to say that I was watching this match live in the VAR, and it was only this angle (behind the goal) that proves that this is a punishable handball.
VAR in Scottish football: incompetent refs, bad technology or both?
“We’re not saying that this is an intentional handball, but it’s punishable. You hear the referee when he comes to the monitor, saying the arm is out from the body.
“And that’s what makes it punishable. This is a correct intervention, and a correct yellow card.”
It’s clear Scottish football has a problem with interpreting the handball rule and Collum needs to ensure that his referees are applying it fairly across the whole league.
Because as Celtic fans have witnessed already this season, other teams are getting away with similar decisions and it’s causing unnecessary controversy.
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