'Really, really poor' - SFA referees chief on Rangers v Celtic penalty decision

VAR officials made a ''really, really poor'' and "unacceptable" decision not to award Rangers a penalty against Celtic in Sunday's Scottish League Cup final, admits Scottish FA head of referee operations Willie Collum.

The Ibrox side, who lost the final on penalties after a 3-3 draw, were awarded a free-kick in extra time when Liam Scales was penalised by referee John Beaton for a pull on Vaclav Cerny right on the edge of the Celtic box.

Footage shows that the infringement started outside the area but continued inside the 18-yard box.

Collum has said VAR officials Alan Muir and assistant Frank Connor moved "far too quickly" in their analysis of the incident and were "not forensic enough".

"People will obviously hear me say that it's wrong, but that's not enough," he said on the Scottish FA's VAR Review show.

"We need to now understand why did we get it wrong and how do we make things better, how do we improve, what's the lessons learned from this incident, because people will find it very hard to accept this error.

"It's a really, really poor decision. It's an unacceptable decision. The VAR team know that, everyone in refereeing knows it.

The Scottish FA has also broadcast the conversation between the officials in which Muir says to Connor: ''The [pulling] is outside [the box]. Do you agree?''

Collum says the question should not have been framed in such a closed manner and that the penalty award was so obvious that there was no need to recommend an on field review by referee Beaton.

Neither Muir or Connor will be on duty at matches this weekend.

"We will do our very, very best through our coaching, through our analysis, to make sure an incident like this never happens again," Collum added. "But it's a mistake, it's a bad mistake.

"When you look at the TV pictures, this is not a difficult decision for the VAR team. They are not forensic enough in the analysis. They move far too quickly.

"I think they're thrown because the majority of the Rangers player's body is outside the area but that's irrelevant because it's the holding that they should be judging.

"They should be making sure they get a clear image to show them that continues into the penalty area."

Addressing the Cerny and Scales incident in more detail, Collum said: "There's been a lot said about the Rangers player having a foot on penalty line. The foot is irrelevant. It's about the holding only because that's where the contact is.

"The holding begins outside the penalty area and then it continues on the line and even arguably beyond the line and fully into the penalty area. But, regardless, the fact it's on the line, this should be considered as a penalty kick.

"The referee's awarded the free-kick on the field, he sees the pulling, he's correctly judged the incident in terms of the foul play.

"But then the VAR team need to go into a check and decide whether this incident is inside or outside and ultimately, they failed to come to the correct conclusion, which is this should have been a factual overturn.

"There's no need for the referee to go to the monitor - a factual overturn for a penalty kick to be awarded."

Rangers noted "the Scottish FA's admission of an officiating failure following the non-award of a penalty".

And the club added: "For such a failure to occur during one of Scotland's showcase matches is not only hugely disappointing for the club and its supporters, but also damaging for the credibility of Scottish football more widely.

"We acknowledge the Scottish FA's determination to use this and other decision-making failures as opportunities to drive improvements in officiating standards.

"As a club, we will continue to engage with the Scottish FA in an attempt to improve officiating standards for the benefit of all clubs in Scotland."

Collum backed the decision to dismiss Robbie Deas for his challenge on Hearts' Kenneth Vargas in Kilmarnock's 1-0 Scottish Premiership win on Sunday.

Furthermore, he said downgrading a red card for St Mirren's Alex Gogic following his tackle on Aberdeen's Shayden Morris was also the right call in the Paisley side's 2-1 win in November.

Furthermore, Collum agreed with the decision not to award Rangers a penalty for a suspected handball by St Johnstone's Jack Sanders at McDiarmid Park in early December, which the visitors won 1-0.

However, Collum said there should have been an on-field review of Dundee United goalkeeper Jack Walton's booking for a foul on St Mirren forward Toyosi Olusanya and a red card recommended in United's 2-0 win in November.

The referee head believed Aberdeen defender Jack Milne should have been dismissed for a challenge on Hearts midfielder Beni Baningime in their 1-1 draw on 1 December.