Furious Rangers insists the the decision to deny them a penalty in Premier Sports Cup final defeat to Celtic is “damaging for the credibility of Scottish football” in a firm response to Willie Collum.
The Head of Refereeing Operations at the SFA came out swinging over the flashpoint that saw Liam Scales bring Vaclav Cerny to the ground on the edge of the box. Referee John Beaton awarding a free-kick and while replays showed the winger was in the box at the time of the incident VAR duo Alan Muir and Frank Connor opted against intervening to award a spot-kick.
Collum branded the decision “unacceptable” decision not to award Rangers as the SFA released the full audio exchange from Clydesdale House. He would go on to admit that a penalty should have been awarded in injury-time at Hampden – with the game poised at 3-3 before Brendan Rodgers’ side went on to win injury time.
Following the admission, a Rangers spokesperson said: “Rangers FC notes the Scottish FA’s admission of an officiating failure following the non-award of a penalty to Rangers in Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup final and welcomes the transparency from the Scottish FA. However, for such a failure to occur during one of Scotland’s showcase matches is not only hugely disappointing for the club and its supporters, but also damaging for the credibility of Scottish football more widely.
“We acknowledge the Scottish FA’s determination to use this and other decision-making failures as opportunities to drive improvements in officiating standards. As a club, we will continue to engage with the Scottish FA in an attempt to improve officiating standards for the benefit of all clubs in Scotland.”
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