The SFA employ two full-time VAR officials, the men that get the majority of the big match TV appointments, Greg Aitken and Andrew Dallas.
Five days a week they work on their job, the Laws of the Game and how they can ensure that the decisions from the match officials are corrected to ensure as fair an outcome as possible.
The Laws of the Game apply exactly the same throughout the match, if one team is leading 3-0 they deserve the same set of Laws as anyone else.
If a VAR official is involved in a match involving his home town team it shouldn’t impact on his decision making. Aitken is from Kilmarnock, attended Kilmarnock Academy and still lives in the town.
🗣️ “I’m absolutely speechless!”
Should Celtic have had a penalty here? The VAR did not feel an intervention was needed ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/Rjj3xwpL5v
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) August 4, 2024
Last weekend Willie Collum was sent out on a charm offensive, speaking to multiple media outlets to show what a nice guy he is, dedicated to improving standards and delivering consistency across all fixtures in the top flight where VAR is about to go into its third year
With Celtic leading Kilmarnock 3-0 late in the game the home side came up with an imaginative free kick. Matt O’Riley and Odin Thiago Holm stood over the ball 27 yards from goal, the Dane flicked the ball over the wall for Kyogo Furuhashi to run onto.
The striker took one touch on the six yard box then was wiped out by Robbie McCrorie, playing his first SPFL match for Kilmarnock after his summer transfer from Ibrox.
Kyogo took a heavy knock, play continued before the Celtic players put the ball out of play, expecting VAR official Aitken review to award a penalty. They waited and waited.
In the studio Aitken had plenty of time to review the contact, he had all of the Sky Sports cameras to call on but decided that there was no foul play involved. After a one minute pause play continued.
After the match Brendan Rodgers said that he didn’t understand why no penalty was awarded, the Celtic boss wasn’t alone with that opinion.
Celtic won the match 4-0, they are top of the SPFL Premiership from match one but are still entitled to have the Laws of the Game applied, even more so when a full time VAR official is appointed to their match.
If McCrorie tries that in midweek in the Conference League qualifier against Tromso he will find a penalty awarded against his side.
After last week’s media blitz Collum is expected to be hiding behind his desk rather than explaining today’s ‘bizarre’ VAR decision from Celtic Park.
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📝 “We all want it now but hopefully over the coming weeks we can get that in”
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers says he wants to bring quality over quantity to his squad before the end of the window ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/pxU0TsTFxf
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) August 4, 2024
VAR is pretty much pointless then as this should have been a penalty. #DUFC pic.twitter.com/XgHHKmH8Pu
— dufcway (@dufcway) August 4, 2024
3 Comments
by TicToc
Firstly I must say that this has been a very happy, Hoopy, weekend and we’re TOTL after just 1 game.
However, I watched the mini huns vs the new huns yesterday and there was an astonishing VAR decision of ‘no penalty’ after Connor Barron brought his arm UP from his side and made clear contact with the ball. FFS, they’ve given pens against us when the player’s hand was behind his back!! And today, after a close decision for offside went Kyogo’s way and he was then taken out by McCrorie, another astonishing decision by VAR said NO PENALTY! Just how the fukk can this be. 1st games of season and the new huns have benefitted from an astonishing decision and we’ve been robbed by another one.
It’s NOT F***ING ON, no discussion necessary as it’s all as clear as day.
Will the Board question this? Naw, the fu**in arseholes. Will Gollum? Naw, the fukkin idiot. They NEW what they were doing appointing Gollum and our plc board will just lap it up.
TIME FOR CHANGE, no MORE proof required! Get them tae fukk, NOW!
And that’s without even mentioning the outrage of the Board’s lack of activity in the transfer market and the FACT we don’t even know who’s involved (as well as the fat slug) who’s always involved.
NO MORE, BHOYS, NO MORE!
by Brian
They are on about being more consistent with decisions this season! Ok fair enough. They are not there to make the rules on penalties just apply them to the letter of the law. They won’t be happy until var is scrapped and we go back to honest mistakes.
by BriBhoy
At first I thought he might have just strayed offside, but apparently they said he was on. They just didn’t think that being wiped out by the keeper, who got nowhere near the ball, is not enough to give a pen. Then there’s the BS being bandied about about a “new rule” being the reason for Hearts not getting the pen they deserved for that obvious and clearly deliberate handball (he clearly moves his arm towards the ball ffs!).
Just because Collum says they’re going to go easier on these things does not mean that the laws of the game have changed or that there is a new rule that says that VAR cannot intervene when there is a clear and deliberate handball that the ref missed. I think Paddy Power summed it up perfectly in their Tweet responding to this joke of a decision. Bet it would have been given the other way!