Scottish FA Panel Identifies Four Incorrect VAR Decisions

A panel identified four incorrect decisions made by video assistant referees during the past week in the Scottish Premiership, among which was the red card issued to St Mirren defender Marcus Fraser against Dundee United, which has since been overturned. Although referee Matthew McDermid’s correct initial decision was improperly reversed in that specific case, VAR’s intervention was deemed correct in two additional incidents, as per the most recent report from the Scottish FA’s key match incidents review panel. With a 3-2 majority, the panel concluded that Fraser’s red card for his challenge on striker Luis Moult, following VAR intervention, was incorrect, despite four panel members concurring that McDermid’s stoppage-time penalty award to United in their 2-0 victory was appropriate. The majority did not consider the incident to be a “clear and obvious” denial of a scoring opportunity warranting VAR’s involvement, whereas the two dissenting panel members supported VAR’s assessment that the referee’s initial call was mistaken. The panel reached a unanimous consensus that VAR was correct in reversing McDermid’s initial decision to not award a penalty for Fraser’s “careless challenge” on United midfielder Kevin Holt. Holt subsequently converted the penalty, though his second penalty attempt was saved. Nevertheless, four panel members believed McDermid erred by not dismissing United goalkeeper Jack Walton for his challenge on St Mirren forward Toyosi Olusanya outside the penalty area. Conversely, one panel member supported VAR’s decision to not intervene. In a separate 3-2 majority decision, the panel indicated that referee Steven McLean and VAR were incorrect in failing to award a penalty to Rangers for a handball by St Johnstone defender Jack Sanders during the initial half of the Glasgow team’s 1-0 win. Additionally, four panel members concurred that VAR ought to have intervened to recommend a red card for Aberdeen defender Jack Milne, whose challenge on Heart of Midlothian midfielder Beni Baningime during their 1-1 draw was deemed to have endangered his safety. The single dissenting member argued that the point of contact was low. The panel unanimously determined that the assistant referee’s offside flag against Rangers in their 6-0 victory against Kilmarnock was erroneous. VAR’s intervention in this instance was correct, leading to the award of a goal scored by striker Cyriel Dessers.