SFA panel has say on Hearts penalty claim against Rangers as 'incorrect' call made prior to key goal

Referee John Beaton was unnmoved when Hearts striker James Wilson collapsed under a challenge from Rangers defender Clinton Nsiala in the box in the 60th minute of the match.

Nsiala appeared to shove the 17-year-old in the back as they jostled for a high ball with contrasting views offered afterwards over whether the contact merited a foul.

The game was level at 1-1 at the time, with Rangers taking the lead almost immediately afterwards as the visitors broke to the opposite end of the park where Valcav Cerny put them 2-1 in front.

VAR chose not to intervene with no request made for an onfield review (OFR) on the penalty incident which could have seen the Rangers goal wiped out and play brought back for a Hearts spot-kick.

It was a key moment in the match, and the KMI panel has recommended that the wrong outcome was reached after reviewing the footage. Albeit, not all members of the five-member panel were in agreement.

The report read: "The panel discussed this decision at length with the majority (3:2) deeming the onfield decision incorrect. The majority (3:2) believed that VAR should have intervened and recommended an OFR for a possible penalty kick."

In total the KMI panel reviewed six incidents from Premiership matches which took place over the weekend of February 15 and 16 with no other incorrect outcomes reached.

There was unanimous agreement that there was no foul in the build-up to Celtic's third goal in the 3-0 win over Dundee United scored by Adam Idah, while referee Ross Hardie's decision to overturn a penalty awarded to Hibs for a handball against St Mirren defender Killian Phillips during the goalless draw in Paisley following a VAR intervention was also unanimously supported. Replays showed that the ball had struck the Buddies player on the head.

There was also no foul in the build-up to Kevin Nisbet's opening goal for Aberdeen in the 2-1 win over Dundee at Dens Park while a home penalty claim for a handball against Shayden Morris in the second half of the same match was also dismissed by the panel.