Celtic, Hibs and Rangers land strong controversial VAR verdicts as Willie Collum promises DOGSO talks

Collum, who is the Scottish Football Association head of referees, backed referee John Beaton for the red card he showed to Motherwell defender Liam Gordon at Aberdeen and claimed Livingston’s Cammy Kerr should have been sent off for bringing down Rangers winger Mikey Moore.

Motherwell captain Paul McGinn described the situation as “madness” after Gordon was sent off for bringing down Toyosi Olusanya two yards inside his own half with two defenders running back from out wide. However, Collum backed his officials following the VAR review but admitted there was an element of doubt over the speed Olusanya was running at given he was not in full flow after winning the ball.

The red card came on the back of similar incidents involving Celtic defender Auston Trusty, Falkirk centre-back Liam Henderson and Dundee United’s Iurie Iovu in quick succession and speaking about the Pittodrie incident on the VAR Review Show, Collum said: “We agree with this decision in principle because we’ve been consistent and people ask us for consistency in refereeing.

“We want to remain consistent between now and the end of the season because if we don’t then clubs will question that. We would like to review the DOGSO (denial of a goalscoring opportunity) situation with clubs.”

Collum admitted it was unfair that Rangers did not get a free-kick for Kerr’s foul on Moore. Most of the VAR check focused on whether it was a penalty and Collum stated it was “100 per cent clear” that the foul took place outside the box. But he added the VAR officials were “probably so focused on the penalty that they don’t look in enough detail about the DOGSO ”.

Collum backed his officials over another VAR-assisted red card shown to Trusty, for striking Jamie McGrath’s arm with his hand as he tried to shake off the Hibs midfielder at a corner. “It’s clear for us this is excessive force and we just can’t allow this sort of action on the pitch,” he said.

However, Collum argued that Celtic should have had a penalty moments later when Liam Scales was pulled down. The VAR officials concluded there was “not enough” in the holding but Collum disagreed, stating there was “too much holding, too much impact” and that it was “prolonged”. He added: “Not enough, we need to stop using that because what does not enough mean? We need to use criteria.”

Collum was satisfied that the correct decision was made not to order a review of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s foul on Motherwell midfielder Elijah Just at Celtic Park last weekend. Well boss Jens Berthel Askou claimed Just looked like he had been in a “war” after being left with several stud marks on his shin.

The VAR officials initially stated the contact was “boot on boot” before referee John Beaton asked if they were sure, observing that the New Zealander had a “wee mark on his shin”. He was told it was a “glancing blow”.

Collum admitted he could see how some referees might give a red card but described it as a “high end yellow/orange card”.

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