The latest Key Match Incident panel convened by the Scottish Football Association has determined that two VAR mistakes occurred in the Scottish Premiership over the past week.The panel reviewed 17 separate incidents from fixtures played between February 18 and 22, including the key flashpoints in Sunday’s Celtic v Hibs and Livingston v Rangers matches.Celtic defender Auston Trusty was shown a red card for violent conduct during the 2-1 loss to Hibs after a clash with Jamie McGrath.
Trusty brought his hand down onto his opponent’s arm as the pair tussled at a corner and was dismissed by referee Matthew MacDermid following a VAR intervention from Grant Irvine.
Celtic’s appeal against the ruling was rejected by an SFA fast-track tribunal, and the KMI panel unanimously agreed that the officials reached the correct verdict.
There was some division within the KMI panel, however, over whether Celtic should have been awarded a penalty for a tug on Liam Scales by Hibs defender Jack Iredale when the score was level at 1-1.Celtic manager Martin O’Neill challenged the decision after the game, saying: “The referee’s words were he didn’t hold on to him long enough, but it seems a wee bit strange. He’s grabbing someone’s shirt as he’s making a move to get the ball. Some years ago it was a penalty. But VAR, they’ve passed that one on.”
Two of the three KMI panel members concluded that the VAR decision not to advise a penalty was correct.
The report stated: The majority (2:1) of the panel deemed the on-field decision of no penalty to be correct. One panel member felt that VAR should have intervened and a penalty should have been awarded.”