Michael Stewart said that following a flashpoint in the Buckie Thistle match, authorities are “playing on the mind of officials” over Rangers’ dispute with the SFA over the penalty snub against Celtic.
Alistair Johnston seemed to handle the ball during the previous derby match as it was trickling out for a corner, but neither on-field referee Nick Walsh nor VAR official Willie Collum called a penalty. When the flashpoint was being built, Abdallah Sima was in an offside position. However, Rangers complained to the SFA that the matchday team had not immediately awarded the penalty, thus it was later ruled out.
And there was a similar incident during the Scottish Cup showdown with the Highland League outfit. With the game goalless, Liel Abada appeared to be chopped down in the box by Jack Murray – with referee Chris Graham being sent to the monitor by Steven McLean in the VAR room. The penalty would not be awarded with both Abada and Matt O’Riley standing in an offside position.
Amid the lengthy VAR check, irked Stewart said on Viaplay: “It was offside regardless when the ball is played to him.” Co-commentator pressed on if the ball was played by O’Riley, Stewart clapped back: “He is offside again. He is offside twice.”
“There is no doubt Jack Murray catches him. It is quite clear for all to see he is offside. I am very, very surprised by this. There is a little touch, you could argue that it’s a foul. But it’s offside.
“This is where VAR gets a bad rep. As soon as the first replay is shown we can see it’s offside, and now it has taken so long for a decision to be made when it is at moot point. Straight away from the first angle you can see it’s offside.”
Hamilton noted that the debate over the attacking phase of play was a hot topic following derby day against Rangers. Stewart noted: “You can guarantee that has been playing on the mind of officials. Such a mess was made of it, but ultimately the right decision was reached in the end.”
