Refs chief Collum reveals two VAR mistakes were made… and that MacDermid was warned about his body language after causing chaos in Rangers v St Johnstone cup clash
SFA referees chief Willie Collum has admitted VAR got two key decisions wrong in the opening weeks of the season and revealed he warned referee Matthew MacDermid about his body language after causing chaos in a cup tie with Rangers.
Giving his verdict on a number of incidents in a new monthly broadcast entitled ‘The VAR Review’, produced by the SFA, Collum admitted that Celtic should have been awarded a penalty in the 4-0 home win over Kilmarnock when Kyogo Furuhashi was brought down by Robby McCrorie and that Dundee United should have been awarded a penalty in a 2-2 derby draw at Tannadice when Dundee’s Luke Graham grabbed the ball.
However, he also admitted that MacDermid had gotten himself into trouble during Rangers’ 2-0 Premier Sports Cup win over St Johnstone at Hampden when he appeared to point for a free-kick after a foul by Cyriel Dessers on Jack Sanders, before the Nigerian striker fired the ball into the net.
Saints were furious after the match. Captain Kyle Cameron accused the referee of giving a free kick and claimed his team-mates had heard him blow the whistle before Dessers touched the ball. After a pitch-side inspection, he gave the goal himself.
An official audio broadcast was released last night in which MacDermid was cleared of the charge of punching the whistle, but Collum admits he did speak to him about other issues afterwards.
“We have trained the referee, and referees in general, in good body language,” he said.
‘Here the referee probably doesn’t show good body language, because his body language when the foul is committed on the edge of the penalty area is all geared towards a free kick. However, he rightly delayed the whistle.
Matthew MacDermid goes to the VAR on the pitch, much to the dismay of Philippe Clement
However, the referee awards the goal to Rangers, much to the dismay of St Johnstone
Rangers striker Cyriel Dessers runs off to celebrate after a chaotic few minutes
‘We spoke extensively with the referee – and we spoke extensively with the other referees – about this clip, about how important it is to control your body language.
‘Except for the body language, in terms of whistle, delay and communication with VAR, the correct process was followed. It is better to play on the whistle than on a signal.’
Collum listed eight separate incidents in his 33-minute internet broadcast, including a handball by Connor Barron that went unpunished against Hearts, the red card for Kilmarnock midfielder Brad Lyons at Pittodrie and a foul that went uncommitted when Celtic’s James Forrest went down after minimal contact against Hibs, to show how VAR works.
While he admitted mistakes had been made, he said he was satisfied with the way the system has worked under his leadership since taking over at Hampden from Crawford Allan.
“We are pleased with the start we have made,” he said. “We realised early on that we needed to improve our decision-making on the pitch and our decision-making in the VOR. .
‘We think our referees, our assistants, our match officials and VARs have taken a step in the right direction. Of course, we still see room for improvement.’