“Did Rangers deserve a penalty against Celtic? Scottish FA head of refereeing Willie Collum offers a clear response following the controversial penalty incident in the Rangers vs Celtic match.
Willie Collum, the Scottish FA’s head of refereeing, has acknowledged that Rangers should have been awarded a penalty during their League Cup final against Celtic. In extra time, Celtic defender Liam Scales fouled Vaclav Cerny, but referee John Beaton ruled the incident took place outside the penalty area, awarding a free-kick instead. VAR officials Alan Muir and assistant Frank Connor did not overturn the decision, and despite the 3-3 scoreline, Rangers went on to lose in the penalty shootout.
Collum, speaking on the SFA’s VAR Review Show, explained that the holding of Cerny’s shirt began outside the penalty area but extended onto the line and possibly into the penalty area. He argued that even though the holding involved the line, it should have been considered a penalty kick. Collum stated, “The referee correctly judged the foul but the VAR team failed to accurately determine whether the incident was inside or outside the box. It should have been a factual overturn for a penalty, and there was no need for the referee to go to the monitor.”
He went on to say that the decision was not difficult to make, explaining, “The VAR team was too quick in their analysis. They focused on the Rangers player’s body position rather than the holding itself, which is the key issue.” Collum emphasized that the VAR team failed to thoroughly analyze the incident, focusing too much on the paperwork rather than the decision itself. He stressed the need for improvement in future VAR reviews, noting that the focus should be entirely on the decision during such checks, not on administrative details.
Collum concluded by acknowledging the difficulty of accepting the error and called for lessons to be learned from the mistake, urging better focus and more careful analysis in similar situations going forward.
