Scottish Premiership clubs such as Rangers and Celtic will be consulted over red cards for not conceding clear scoring opportunities in the summer, SFA referee chief Willie Collum has confirmed.
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Mr Collum backed referee John Beaton, who ultimately showed Motherwell defender Liam Gordon a red card against Aberdeen, and argued Livingston’s Cammy Kerr should have been sent off for bringing down Rangers winger Mikey Moore.
Motherwell captain Paul McGinn described the situation as “insane” after Gordon was sent off for bringing down Toyosi Olusanya inside his own two yards, with two defenders running back from the outside.
Corum backed the officials following the VAR review, but admitted there was an element of doubt over Olusanya’s speed given he was not at full flow after winning the ball.
The red cards followed a series of similar incidents involving Celtic defender Auston Trusty, Falkirk centre-back Liam Henderson and Dundee United’s Youri Iob.
Speaking about the Pittodrie incident on the VAR Review programme, Collum said: “We agree with this decision in principle because we have been consistent and people expect us to be consistent in refereeing.”
“We want to be consistent from now until the end of the season, because if we don’t the club will question it.
“I would like to discuss the dosso (denial of a scoring opportunity) situation with the club.”
Collum admitted that it was unfair that Kerr’s foul on Moore denied Rangers a free kick. Most of the VAR checks focused on whether it was a penalty, and Collum said it was “100 per cent clear” that the foul was committed outside the box.
But he added that VAR officials were “probably too focused on the penalty and not looking into Dosso in enough detail.”
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Collum backed officials over another VAR red card shown to the trustees for hitting Jamie McGrath in the arm with his hand as he tried to shake off the Hibernian midfielder at Coram.
“It is clear to us that this was an act of excessive force and we cannot tolerate this type of behavior on the pitch,” he said.
But Collum insisted Celtic should have been awarded a penalty the moment Liam Scales was brought down.
VAR officials concluded there were “not enough” holds, but Collum disagreed, saying there were “too many holds, too much impact” and they “lingered too long”.
He added: “It’s not enough. We need to stop using that because what does not enough mean? We need to use standards.”
Mr Collum was satisfied he made the right decision not to order a review into Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s foul on Motherwell midfielder Elijah Just at Celtic Park last weekend.
Well’s boss, Jens Berthel Askow, claimed that he had several stud marks on his shins and looked as if he had been in a “war”.
VAR officials initially said the contact was “boot-to-boot”, but referee John Beaton noticed “lump marks” on the New Zealander’s shin and asked if he was sure. He was told it was a “one shot”.
Collum admitted he could understand that some referees might award a red card, but described it as a “high-end yellow/orange card”.
Rangers legend McCoist furious at Moore’s decision
Ally McCoist was furious at the decision late in Rangers’ draw with Livingston, calling it “embarrassing”.
“Forget the bigotry and the nonsense. That’s why we need people who know the game, who play the game, or who have played the game at a high enough level to kind of know when to use common sense to get involved. It’s frankly embarrassing.”
Rangers welcome Aberdeen to Ibrox on Saturday but cannot afford to drop any more points in the title race, while Celtic travel to Dundee United this weekend and must wait until Sunday to play their part.
