SFA panel split on Rangers penalty decision as Celtic v Falkirk red card gets unanimous verdict

Judgement passed on 17 key match incidents

There was disagreement about a penalty call in the Rangers vs. Dundee game at Ibrox last weekend, but a newly formed Scottish FA panel has concluded that there were no VAR faults.

Every week, the Key Match Incident Review Panel will convene to review the main incidents from the matches played the previous weekend. After that, they will cast their votes about the correctness of the on-field call and any subsequent VAR interventions.
Each of the panel’s five members, who are employed by Scottish football or the media, votes once on each KMI. The results of each review are decided by a majority vote.
Over the course of the two William Hill Premiership games and the two Premier Sports Cup quarterfinal matches that included VAR over the weekend of
September 20 and 21

September 20 and 21
They discovered that all decisions, including the one to give Rangers a penalty in the 48th minute of their 3-0 victory over Dundee in the Premier Sports Cup quarterfinal, were right.
The panel unanimously decided that Mohamed Sylla, a midfield player for Dundee, should have been sent off for fouling Cyriel Dessers, the striker, by referee Chris Graham. James Tavernier scored the penalty. This was in spite of Tony Docherty, the manager of Dundee, later protesting that the choice was “soft”.
According to the report, “The panel supported the on-field decision, noting that the Dundee defender was caught on the wrong side and subsequently fouled the Rangers attacker.”

September 20 and 21
But the panel was divided when it came to not giving Rangers a penalty for another incident involving Sylla and Dessers in the first half. In a post on the X account for officiating podcast Behind the Whistles, Sylla looked to grapple Dessers, who went down in the box. She called the on-pitch judgment a “clear error” and questioned why VAR did not step in.

A 3:2 majority decided that a penalty should have been given because the onfield call was wrong. But a 3:2 majority decided that as the judgment did not constitute an evident error and instead fell under the category of “a more complex decision with a greater degree of subjectivity,” VAR was proper to refrain from intervening.

According to the KMI report: “The panel deliberated extensively on this decision, with the majority (3:2) stating that the onfield ruling was wrong, pointing out that the Dundee defender had fouled the Rangers forward. According to two panelists, there was insufficient contact to justify a penalty being awarded. Two panelists thought a penalty should have been given following a VAR intervention, but the majority (3:2) thought the VAR was correct not to intervene.”
In other news, all five panelists agreed that the on-field decision to show Bairns player Michael McKenna a late red card following a high tackle on Anthony Ralston during Celtic’s 5-2 Premier Sports Cup victory against Falkirk was the right one.

The report stated: “The panel unanimously deemed the on-field decision correct, noting that the Falkirk player made contact with the Celtic player above the knee while leading with his studs.”