Willie Collum slams VAR duo over ‘unacceptable’ Rangers penalty blunder as audio released in full

After being denied a late spot-kick in the Hampden drama, Rangers are furious.

As the SFA made public the whole audio discussion from Clydesdale House, Willie Collum blasted VAR officials Alan Muir and Frank Connor for their “unacceptable” decision to deny Rangers a penalty in their Premier Sports Cup final loss to Celtic.

Referee John Beaton gave the Light Blues a free kick after Hoops defender Liam Scales pulled down Vaclav Cerny as injury time was running out. Rangers manager Philippe Clement was furious with the judgement after witnessing Celtic win the Premier Sports Cup via a penalty shootout, and the repercussions has continued ever since. Muir and Connor in the VAR room supported the man in the centre.

Patrick Stewart, the new CEO of Ibrox, requested explanations for the VAR room error and the crisis. Then, in reaction to the outrage that came from Ibrox, SFA CEO Ian Maxwell would acknowledge that some “decisions will be wrong” because of human nature.

Head of Referee Operations Collum told the SFA’s VAR Review: “We need to evaluate a holding event. The crucial aspect of this episode is the holding. Although the Rangers player has a foot on the line and has been the subject of much discussion, the foot is essentially unimportant in this situation.

Because that’s where the contact starts, it’s all about the holding and the holding only. Starting outside the penalty area, the holding continues on the line, sometimes even on the line, and then into the penalty area. In any case, this should be regarded as a penalty kick because it’s on the line. The referee rightly saw the pulling in terms of foul play, thus he gave a free-kick on the pitch. The VAR team must conduct a check to determine whether this incident occurred inside or outside. In the end, they have not reached the right conclusion, which is that there should have been a factual overturn for a penalty kick to be awarded; there was no need for the referee to visit the monitor.

“People need to take time to decide whether it’s inside or outside,” Collum added when asked what went wrong. In the end, based on the TV images, the VAR crew will have little trouble making this choice. They analyse things too quickly and are not forensically sound enough.

“They should be making sure they get a clear visual to show them that that continues into the penalty area, but that is immaterial because of the holding. I believe they are thrown because the most of the Rangers players’ bodies are outside the penalty area.

“People will hear me say today that it’s wrong, but it’s not enough, therefore we have examined this issue. People will find it extremely difficult to accept this error, therefore we must understand why we made the mistake and how we are improving things. Very hard to believe.”

“By firstly acknowledging that it’s a really, really poor decision,” he added when asked how the SFA took responsibility for the flashpoint. The choice is unacceptable. Everyone in refereeing is aware of this, including the VAR staff. It’s not acceptable.

“With our coaching and analysis, we will do all in our power to ensure that a situation like this never occurs again. However, it’s a mistake—a serious one. You discuss responsibility. When I started this position at the beginning of the season, I made it clear that refereeing will be held accountable.

“I assured the managers and the media that we would handle the situation internally. Accountability would exist, but we have maintained that throughout the season. I can guarantee that to people. I did state that, much as a manager wouldn’t openly discuss benching a player, we wouldn’t publicly declare that if match officials are unable to attend future games or if we need to alter the match’s profile for someone. However, we also have an obligation to safeguard the referees as a whole, as well as the match officials who are directly involved in this.”

Full VAR exchange
VAR: APP.

VAR: Pull.

SAR: Looks directly outside.

AVAR: The fifth number.

He’s just outside the penalty area, according to VAR. That’s about all there is. He’s right outside there, as you can see. It’s really near. More of it is outside. Do you agree? Very, very near.

AVAR: 100%.

VAR: Clear that out.

Referee: Alright, everyone, are we ready to enter the VAR centre?

VAR: All right, we can proceed. No continuous inspections.

Referee: All right, thanks, buddy.