SFA panel delivers verdict on Celtic and Rangers penalty calls, and Connor Barron high boot.

A Scottish FA panel ruled that Celtic were wrongfully denied a penalty kick against Motherwell last weekend.

The Hoops won 3-0 at Fir Park on Sunday, but a first-half goal by Daizen Maeda was disallowed after a VAR review revealed that he had put the ball into the net with his hand while falling in the box. However, the Key Match Incident Review Panel, which meets each week to examine major incidents from the previous weekend’s matches before voting on whether the on-field decision and any subsequent VAR interventions were correct, determined that Celtic should have been awarded a penalty kick for a push on Maeda by Motherwell defender Stephen O’Donnell, which was missed by referee David Dickinson and VAR operator Alan Muir.

The report stated: “After a lengthy discussion on the incident, the majority (4:1) of the panel deemed this should have firstly been identified as a foul by the on-field Referee and an on-field review should have been recommended by the VAR when the penalty was not awarded. As the goal was correctly ruled out for handball, the majority of the panel (4:1) felt the penalty-kick should have been awarded as this offence occurred before the handball. One panel member felt the decision not to award the penalty-kick was correct and that no intervention was required. The panel also noted that, in line with VAR protocol, VAR could not advise on any sanction for the offending player during a potential OFR, which must be decided by the On-field referee.”

Each of the five panellists, who are employed by Scottish football, has one vote on each KMI, and the results of each review are decided by a majority vote. The KMI panel reviewed 16 incidents from the six William Hill Premiership matches played over the weekend of October 26 and 27. They discovered that no other incorrect outcomes were reached, including the decision not to recommend a VAR review of Rangers midfielder Connor Barron’s potential red card for a high boot on St Mirren’s Toyosi Olusanya.

Des Roache, a former SFA referee, commented this week that the tackle was “identical” to the one that resulted in a red card for Celtic winger Hyun Jun-Yang last season for a challenge on Hearts’ Alex Cochrane, and should have resulted in the same sanction. However, the KMI panel saw it differently, as stated in the report: “The panel agreed the incident shouldn’t have resulted in a red card, however did agree that a caution for the offending player could be supported.”

The panel was divided, however, over the decision not to award St Mirren a penalty for a foul on Olusanya by Neraysho Kasanwirjo while the match was tied at 1-1, with only a slight majority (3:2) agreeing that referee Callum Scott’s on-field decision not to award a spot-kick was correct. The report continued: “Two panel members felt a penalty should have been awarded and that VAR intervention should have taken place.”

Rangers also had a penalty shout in injury time after Cyriel Dessers was brought down by St Mirren goalkeeper Ellery Balcombe. However, the KMI panel found no case to answer. “The on-field decision was unanimously supported,” the panel stated.

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