Willie Collum has defended the match officials’ decision not to send off Celtic defender Alistair Johnston during their victory over Ross County, despite criticism from Rangers legend Kris Boyd.
The incident occurred during the Premiership clash at Dingwall when Johnston fouled Ross County substitute Kieran Phillips on the goal line, conceding a penalty in the second half. Referee Matthew McDermid awarded the spot kick but chose not to issue a card to the Celtic player.
Jordan White converted the penalty, giving Ross County a glimmer of hope, but Celtic ultimately secured a 4-1 win. However, Boyd expressed his frustration on Sky Sports, arguing that Johnston should have been sent off: “I cannot understand why that’s not a red card – cannot understand. There’s no attempt to play the ball and it’s denying him a goal-scoring opportunity.
“He said it himself, there’s a little nudge in the back. He knew straight away, and yes, they get back to 1-1 but Celtic should be down to 10 men now.
“Jordan White, great composure. He had to wait a long time to take that penalty because I think they go round the house trying to find something wrong with it didn’t they? But you can see there’s absolutely no attempt to play the ball there. No attempt.”
In response, Collum provided an explanation during the SFA’s VAR Review: “The key thing for us here is about the word ‘obvious’— an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. There’s no doubt it is an opportunity, but when the foul happens, the ball is in mid-air, only just coming into the penalty area.
“For us, there is not enough to say that at that stage this is obvious. This is not where a player has the ball right in front of them about to tap it into the goal.
“A lot of people might disagree with that, but we’re aligning ourselves with UEFA’s thinking and the understanding given by FIFA about denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. They do not want a red card for this kind of scenario.”
