Rangers labelled the event “damaging for the credibility of Scottish football” despite acknowledging that the Scottish FA had admitted to a significant VAR blunder at the Premier Sports Cup final.
After Willie Collum acknowledged that Rangers were not given a penalty when Vaclav Cerny was fouled by Liam Scales, Ibrox chiefs reacted.
Replays showed Cerny’s foot on the line of the penalty area, but VAR officer Alan Muir did nothing to stop John Beaton’s award of a free-kick for the foul in extra time.
The rules of the IFAB say: “If a defender starts holding an attacker outside the penalty area and continues holding inside the penalty area, the referee must award a penalty kick.”
As he faced the terrible call in the VAR Review Show, referee Collum acknowledged that it was “unacceptable” that no penalty had been given.
“We acknowledge that it’s a really, really poor decision,” he stated.
“The choice is unacceptable. The VAR crew is aware of that. In refereeing, everyone is aware of that.
“It is not acceptable. Through coaching and analysis, we will use every effort to ensure that a similar situation never occurs again.
“It’s mistake and it’s a bad mistake.”
A Rangers representative has since praised the Scottish FA for being open about the incorrect decision, but expressed extreme disappointment that the call was overlooked in a crucial final at Hampden.
“Improve officiating standards for the benefit of all clubs in Scotland” is the goal of the club’s ongoing collaboration with the Scottish FA.
According to a Rangers representative, Rangers FC “welcomes the transparency from the Scottish FA and notes their admission of an officiating failure following the non-award of a penalty to Rangers in Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup final.”
But it is extremely upsetting for the team and its supporters, as well as detrimental to the reputation of Scottish football in general, for such a failure to take place during one of Scotland’s showcase games.
“We applaud the Scottish FA’s resolve to take advantage of this and other decision-making setbacks to promote higher officiating standards.
“We will keep working with the Scottish FA as a club to raise officiating standards for the good of all Scottish clubs.”
