adminBAD CALL Celtic SHOULDN’T have been given penalty against Motherwell as SFA’s KMI panel finds VAR was WRONG to intervene
According to the Scottish FA’s Key Match Incident (KMI) panel, Celtic should not have been awarded a penalty during their penultimate league match against Motherwell.
In the 99th minute, Kelechi Iheanacho converted the spot-kick, keeping Celtic within reach of Hearts in the race for the Premiership title. The penalty was awarded after VAR official Andrew Dallas flagged a handball by Sam Nicholson, who was challenging Auston Trusty for the ball. Referee John Beaton had originally waved play on but reversed his decision after consulting the pitchside monitor.
The call sparked widespread debate, with some commentators labeling it the worst VAR decision they had ever witnessed. SFA head of referees Willie Collum initially defended his officials publicly. However, just one week later, the independent KMI panel concluded that the original on-field ruling was correct and that VAR should not have intervened.
Two out of the three panelists also determined that the eventual penalty award was wrong. The panel’s reasoning stated: “The majority (2:1) deemed the on-field decision of play on to be correct. Two members felt VAR was incorrect to intervene and the penalty was wrongly awarded for handball after the on-field review. One member felt VAR was correct to intervene and a penalty should have been given.”
The incident received a difficulty rating of five, described as “a particularly tough decision that all referees would struggle with—the type of judgment where technology is needed to support officials.”
All other incidents from matchdays 37 and 38 received unanimous 3:0 rulings in favor of correct decisions, including a handball penalty awarded to Celtic against Alexandros Kyziridis and the overturning of a penalty given to Falkirk in their final match against Rangers.
admin
