Willie Collum has faced the cameras again to admit a number of VAR and refereeing errors over the last couple of weeks in the Premiership.
The SFA’s head of referees was grilled by Gordon Duncan on the latest VAR Review show and he revealed that errors were made involving Hearts, Hibs, Dundee United and St Mirren.
The most controversial decision was undoubtedly Celtic’s disallowed goal against Hibs as the Easter Road side secured a 2-1 victory in the end.
Daizen Maeda’s goal would have made it 2-2 and it was initially awarded on-field. But VAR stepped in and ruled that the ball had went out of play in the build-up.
Now, Collum has confessed that VAR should not have overruled the on-field decision of goal and Celtic should have drawn level with Hibs on the day.
Hibs told Celtic disallowed goal should have stood
Collum explained that there wasn’t a camera angle provided to the VAR to absolutely prove that the ball was fully over the byline.
He said: “You need 100 per cent conclusive evidence to disallow the goal here and prove that the ball is over the goal line.
“In this case, it is not possible to prove categorically that the ball has crossed the line fully.
“We know from previous examples at World Cups that a ball can look out from certain angles, but then when you look at the camera above, a slight part, a millimetre of the ball can be overhanging the goal-line and that’s enough to say the ball is in play.
“So on this occasion, for us, we expect the on-field decision to be supported and the goal to be awarded.
“If the assistant referee had flagged here, and in his opinion the ball had crossed the line for a goal-kick, we would also expect that decision to be supported, because there is no 100 per cent conclusive evidence. It’s impossible to prove otherwise.”
St Mirren were denied penalty vs Celtic
Hibs got away with one against Celtic, but St Mirren were less fortunate during their game against the champions the following weekend.
St Mirren battled well but eventually lost 5-2 in Paisley, but should have been awarded a penalty with score at 3-2 to Celtic.
Roland Odowu was fouled inside the box by Alistair Johnston, but both the on-field referee and VAR did not deem the challenge a foul.
Collum, however, has revealed this was a mistake and the Buddies were indeed denied a crucial spot-kick that could have allowed them to make the score 3-3.
He told Gordon Duncan: “For us this is a penalty kick and a yellow card. This is a reckless challenge by the Celtic player.
“There is fine margins when it comes to decisions like this but there is a clear difference for me between touching the ball and playing the ball.
“There is a sclaff on the ball, the direction of the ball doesn’t change, and then there is reckless contact onto the player. We know now in football you can touch a ball and there can still be a reckless foul.”
Sam Dalby’s Dundee United header vs Hibs wrongly disallowed
One of the most baffling decisions of the past few weeks was the VAR call to rule out Sam Dalby’s header against Hibs at Tannadice.
Hibs won 3-1 in the end but Dundee United were fuming and demanded answers from the SFA over the decision to disallow Dalby’s goal.
It took the VAR five minutes to determine that Dalby had used his arm to score instead of his head, despite the lack of conclusive evidence showing there was an offence.
Collum says that, as a result, the original on-field decision of goal should have stood and that VAR had no grounds to rule it out.
He said: “Could it hit the arm? Yes absolutely it could. But do we have 100 per cent conclusive evidence of the ball striking the arm? We don’t, therefore the on-field decision should be supported.
“People have said to me the other club will complain. But it’s about proof. We need to be categorical and clear, especially when it’s overturning an on-field decision.”
St Mirren should have went down to 10 men vs Hearts
The final controversial flashpoint discussed was Killian Phillips’ challenge on Jamie McCart as Hearts won 3-1 at Tynecastle against St Mirren.
Phillips jumped into an aerial challenge with no attempt to play the ball and whacked McCart recklessly on the face with his shoulder.
The on-field referee produced a red card for Phillips, but was soon called over the the monitor by VAR to have another look at the incident.
The referee then overturned his decision and downgraded to a yellow card. But Collum has now declared this was incorrect.
Collum explained: “The reality is it’s not an elbow, it’s a shoulder. There will be many people watching who say it’s still a red card so just stick to it. But for me the problem here is that is technically re-refereeing the match.
“The VAR would be supporting a red card for a decision that didn’t happen, because it’s a shoulder. I know people will say we’re splitting hairs, shoulder or elbow, but it’s the right thing in terms of protocol.
“The unfortunate thing is, psychologically for a referee, when they are brought to a monitor they think they’ve made a mistake.
“But we need our referees to be strong enough to see the images, take into account everything that has happened, and change the decision for the elbow to a shoulder, still being a red card.
“There is speed, intensity and endangering the safety of an opponent. We’ve coached on the back of this that if a referee is brought to the monitor for a protocol matter they still need to assess the incident.
“It doesn’t mean the red card is wrong, but it’s not for the reason that’s given.”