Scottish FA are "disappointed" by Rangers' claims after meeting on Wednesday; Ibrox club said "overriding consensus" Alistair Johnston handball decision was wrong in loss at Celtic; SFA say handball check "subjective" and explain why offside not mentioned in VAR audio
Thursday 4 January 2024 18:39, UK
The Scottish FA say they are "disappointed" by Rangers' claims following Wednesday's meeting to review the club's penalty appeal in the recent Old Firm.
SFA head of referee operations Crawford Allan met with Gers CEO James Bisgrove and DoF operations Creag Robertson following their request to release VAR audio surrounding an appeal for handball against Celtic's Alistair Johnston, which was reviewed by VAR Willie Collum at the time - but not given.
In the second half, forward Abdallah Sima's offside position was also highlighted, however, Rangers said the audio did not include discussions of offside, while claiming there was an "overwhelming consensus" that the original handball decision had been incorrect.
However, the SFA the handball call was "subjective" and "the VAR did not deem it a sufficiently clear and obvious error to refer to on field review."
The national body also clarified "offside would not have been mentioned at the time as it was not part of the VAR's decision-making on the handball."
A statement read: "The Scottish FA is disappointed by contents of the most recent statement issued by Rangers in relation to a match incident during the club's recent Premiership fixture against Celtic.
"Chief Executive James Bisgrove and Director of Football Operations Creag Robertson attended a private briefing with the Head of Referee Operations, Crawford Allan, to review the incident in question, including the use of matchday audio. We understood from the chief executive that the meeting had been constructive and informative, and conducted amicably.
"This does not appear to be reflected in the club's statement.
"During the meeting, it was pointed out that the incident in question was a subjective handball and that the VAR did not deem it a sufficiently clear and obvious error to refer to On Field Review.
"Furthermore, the offside would not have been mentioned at the time as it was not part of the VAR's decision-making on the handball. It was highlighted within Clydesdale House that had the VAR considered the incident to be a handball offence and asked the referee to carry out an On Field Review, the Attacking Phase of Play would have been checked and an offside would have been identified. This supplementary information was relayed to broadcasters in-game, and we are reviewing the process of information dissemination to avoid any perceived ambiguity in future.
"There was an overall consensus that the incident could not have led to a penalty kick being awarded in any event, and that there was no impact on the final outcome of the match.
"Scotland's VAR protocol is in many ways modelled on the PGMOL system, and we are in regular dialogue with our colleagues in England on knowledge sharing and improvements. VAR has been operational in Scotland for just over a year, whilst it has been operational in England for more than four.
"Since the summer, we have ensured that Key Match Incidents are reviewed and shared with all clubs after every full round of 11 Premiership fixtures, including use of audio. We will continue to do this, along with KMI being shared with the Independent Review Panel for their consideration and opinion.
"Finally, we note posts from a recent official media partner of the club's detailing requests from the private meeting that were immediately rejected. We would ask that club representatives show greater responsibility in such matters, especially in the context of recent incidents in European football that have compromised the safety of match officials and led to widespread condemnation."
On Wednesday following the meeting, a Rangers spokesperson said: "Rangers FC today met with Scottish FA officials to discuss the VAR handball call and subsequent miscommunications from Saturday's Old Firm match.
"From the meeting, there was an overriding consensus the VAR decision of no handball was incorrect.
"Having listened to the audio, there is no mention of a potential offside at the time of the handball decision. Rangers is also deeply concerned at the haste at which the erroneous no handball call was made.
"Rangers has appealed to the Scottish FA to release the audio and explain this decision, and future contentious decisions involving all clubs, to the public, as would be common practice in England for such a decision.
"The club has made a number of specific requests that it hopes the Scottish FA will respond to in order to improve matters going forward."
Speaking straight after Saturday's defeat, Rangers boss Philippe Clement was adamant the club should have been given the penalty and he branded some decisions made by Walsh and the officiating team as "very strange".
Clement also had issue with Celtic's Paulo Bernardo not being sent off for a late tackle on Conor Goldson while already on a booking, with defender Johnston also avoiding a second yellow card despite making contact with Sima's face.
Those two decisions were even more significant given Leon Balogun was later sent off for a professional foul on Daizen Maeda.
"We played 15 minutes with 10 players, and that was the right decision, it's a red card. We didn't do that action well," Clement told Sky Sports.
"But I have other questions also about, why not a handball in the first half to get a penalty? It's a clear handball.
"Why not a second yellow card for some tackles and then at the end of the game a lot of yellow cards? A few strange decisions in that way."
When Clement was told by Sky Sports reporter Luke Shanley that there was an offside in the build-up to the Johnston 'handball' incident, the Rangers manager responded: "The decision was not made about an offside, the decision of no penalty was made about the handball.
"That was the decision. So that was a strange decision for me."
He later added: "We were unlucky with the two [Celtic] goals and if we get this penalty, it's a 2-2 with the quality of the game. It's another story in perception."
