Rangers were unquestionably denied a penalty during extra-time in the Premier Sports Cup final, an error that has prompted the Scottish FA to admit a VAR blunder.
The controversy arose after John Beaton awarded only a free-kick for Liam Scales’ tug on Vaclav Cerny on the edge of the box, with VAR officials failing to intervene.
The fallout has been swift, with incoming Rangers CEO Patrick Stewart contacting the SFA to demand an explanation.
In response, the governing body has reportedly acknowledged the error and taken action, sidelining VAR officials Alan Muir and Frank Connor from this weekend’s Premiership fixtures.
Former referee Bobby Madden weighed in immediately after the match, calling it a “100% penalty,” and now even a former Celtic player, Mark Wilson, has agreed with the assessment.
Mark Wilson Highlights VAR’s Failure
Wilson, who was working at the game, offered a unique perspective, having had access to the VAR monitor used by commentators.
The former Celtic defender believes the decision didn’t require a detailed review and should have been obvious as a factual call. However, he was baffled at how quickly the incident appeared to be dismissed.
Speaking on the Open Goal podcast, Wilson explained:
“The factual decision is it’s a penalty, it doesn’t even need to go to the screen.
“See at the time? Because where we’re sitting we’ve got the screen in front of us and it’s delayed like three seconds to what’s going on in the game.
“So we look right away because you think ‘that must be close.’ But the replay seemed so quick, we’ve even got the VAR because Lenny (Neil Lennon) and Alan Hutton is just in front of us doing the co-comms.
“But I didn’t even see anything flash up. It was almost like it was just brushed aside.”
SFA Set to Address Mistake
According to The Scotsman, the SFA has already admitted the error privately to Rangers, and a public admission is expected shortly.
Referees’ chief Willie Collum is scheduled to address the issue on his VAR Review Show later this week, with the Key Match Incident Panel’s findings set for publication on Friday.
While no detailed explanation has yet been provided to Rangers, the SFA has acknowledged that the officials’ decision was simply a mistake. This admission will likely fuel further scrutiny of VAR’s implementation in Scottish football.
