VAR’S THE JUSTICE IN THAT? Only two of this weekend’s Premier Sports Cup quarter-finals in Scotland will have video assistant referees in operation
Only two of this weekend’s four Premier Sports Cup matches will use VAR.
Friday night’s first quarter-final match between Premiership clubs Motherwell and Dundee United at Fir Park and Saturday’s match between Aberdeen and League Two Spartans at Pittodrie will both be played without video referees.
Participating clubs save around £16,000 by using the League Cup rules.
SPFL rules state that matches broadcast live on subscription channel Premier Sports must use VAR where possible, with Rangers and Celtic footing the bill for their home games against Dundee and Falkirk respectively.
Premier Sports will, however, continue to cover Fir Park and Pittodrie, but the matches will only be available on a per-view matchday bonus streaming basis.
And thanks to that loophole, the clubs involved can decide with their opponents whether they want to share the bill for the extra cameras, pitchside monitors and the central operational hub that comes with using VAR.
Only two of the quarter-finals will use a VAR system
Motherwell is one of the clubs that has chosen not to use the system for cup matches.
Celtic and Rangers will both use VAR for their respective Premier Sports Cup matches
In a bid to cut costs, Motherwell, Dundee United, Aberdeen and Spartans have decided to abandon the competition, raising the spectre of a two-tiered legal system in the same round of the competition.
Alan Muir will be in the VAR booth when Rangers return to Ibrox for the first time this season in a 5.30pm kick-off tomorrow (Sat), while Andrew Dallas will act as video assistant for Celtic’s home game against Championship leaders Falkirk on Sunday.