Video Assistant Referees (VAR) will be used in the Scottish Cup from the Fourth Round stage, but only for matches where the Scottish Premiership side is at home, The Scotsman has reported this evening.
VAR is already being used in the top flight, with its implementation so far attracting the ire of many fans, pundits and even some managers.
Previously it had only been confirmed to be in use for the Scottish Cup during the semi-finals and final at Hampden. However, it now seems the technology will be used far earlier.
There are 16 fixtures in the next round of the Scottish Cup but only six of them will have VAR in play, likely including Celtic’s match at home to Greenock Morton
The Scotsman reports VAR will be used for all live Scottish Cup matches on BBC or Viaplay where the Premiership team is at home.
For non-TV games where the top-flight side is at home, an agreement between the two teams will be required. The cost of the technology’s use could also largely fall to the Premiership side, in such scenarios.
It’s said that the Scottish FA’s VAR centre can only sustain six matches concurrently, although heading on location to the English FA’s centre hasn’t been ruled out in the unlikely scenario all 12 Premiership teams play at home in future.
Either way, it looks like Celtic will be exposed to the Scottish FA’s rollout of VAR in another competition. Hopefully, by then, they’ll have ironed out the issues which have plagued refereeing decisions in the opening weeks of its use.
In other news, No stress for Celtic despite media frenzy.
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