Rangers v Celtic referee and VAR revealed as SFA confirm officials for Ibrox showdown

The third Old Firm fixture of the season - the second in the league - takes place this Thursday, January 2 as under pressure Rangers manager Philippe Clement goes in search of his first victory over his main rivals at the seventh attempt.

Celtic approach the match with a huge 14-point advantage at the top of the table at the halfway stage of the campaign after Rangers followed a dismal Boxing Day defeat at St Mirren with a 2-2 draw at Motherwell on Sunday, reigniting calls for Clement to be sacked.

Brendan Rodgers' side have dropped only four points all season, scoring 52 goals and conceding just four, and head to Govan in high spirits following back-to-back 4-0 home wins over Motherwell and St Johnstone while rotating their squad over the festive period.

Celtic claimed a 3-0 victory at Parkhead in the opening Old Firm match this season on September 3 with Daizen Maeda, Kyogo Furuhashi and Callum McGregor all on target. The Hoops again came out on top in the Premier Sports Cup final at Hampden earlier this month after a much closer affair saw them lift the trophy following a penalty shoot-out after the sides played out a 3-3 draw over 120 minutes.

There was a major refereeing fallout from the match regarding a decision not to award Rangers a penalty in extra-time when Vaclav Cerny was fouled by Celtic defender Liam Scales on the 18-yard line. Referee John Beaton gave a free-kick but SFA head of referees Willie Collum admitted that VAR should have intervened to award a penalty kick, branding the error "unacceptable".

Now the SFA has confirmed the officiating team for the upcoming Ibrox clash with Don Robertson set to take charge of his third Old Firm fixture. Robertson will be assisted by David Roome and Ross Macleod with Nick Walsh on VAR duty, assisted by Daniel McFarlane.

Robertson was involved in controversary during his most recent Old Firm encounter, which took place at Ibrox in September 2023 when he ruled out a Rangers opener from Kemar Roofe following a VAR intervention. The referee initially allowed the goal to stand but changed his mind to award a foul against Cyriel Dessers for a challenge on Gustaf Lagerbielke in the build-up after reviewing the VAR monitor. The decision was branded “appalling” by Rangers legend Ally McCoist as the hosts went on to lose the game by a single goal, which was scored by Kyogo just before half time.

Robertson’s Old Firm debut came out of the blue when he earned an 11th hour call-up to referee the 2003 Scottish Cup semi-final between the sides at Hampden after Willie Collum suffered an injury in the warm-up. Robertson had been originally appointed as fourth official. The match passed without any major flashpoints as Celtic claimed a 1-0 win thanks to a Jota header.