The VAR audio from the final has been released by the Scottish FA, that it “was close” but was outside the area.
But now referee chief Collum has insisted they got the big call wrong and that they focused on Cerny too much rather than paying attention to the fact that Scales was inside the area when tugging his opponent’s jersey.
It came despite Celtic’s Paulo Bernardo also clamped the penalty claims and urged both clubs to move past it.
Collum also told how he felt the VAR team may even have rushed the decision rather than properly analyse it and he feels that is one major area where his officials went wrong.
Celtic won the game 5-4 on penalties at Hampden, in the end, following a dramatic and nerve-shredding 3-3 draw.
But the ref call has been at the forefront of the discussions from pundits and supporters on social media. And it prompted the VAR team from the Premier Sports Cup Final to be axed from the next card of fixtures.
Here 67 Hail Hail takes a look at everything Collum said in the Scottish FA’s VAR Review show about Scales’ challenge and the subsequent fallout.
“So there’s a holding incident we need to assess here,” Collum began.
Willie Collum insisted Rangers should have had a penalty vs Celtic
“The holding is the key part of the decision. It’s really, really important. There’s been a lot said that the Rangers player has a foot on the penalty area line, the foot is actually irrelevant in this case. It’s about the holding, the holding only because that’s where the contact is.
“The holding begins outside the area but it continues on the line. Even arguably on the line and fully into the penalty area.
“Regardless, the fact that it’s only the line, this should be considered a penalty kick.
“The referee has awarded a free-kick on the field and has correctly judged the incident in terms of foul play. But then the VAR team need to go into a check and decide if this incident is inside or outside.
“Ultimately they have failed to come to the correct conclusion which is that this was a factual overturn.
“No need for the referee to go to the monitor. A factual overturn for a penalty to be awarded.”
He added: “I have to be very honest and say people need to take time and make sure, is the holding inside outside. But ultimately when you look at the TV pictures here, this is not a difficult decision for the VAR team.
“They are not forensic enough in the analysis, they move far too quickly. I think they’re thrown because the majority of the Rangers player’s body is outside the penalty area, but that’s irrelevant.
Why Collum felt Liam Scales’ foul was inside the area
“It’s about the holding they should be judging and they should be making sure they get a clear image to show them that continues into the penalty area.
“We’ve dissected this incident because people will obviously hear me saying today that it’s wrong, but that’s not enough. We need to now understand why did we get it wrong and how do we make things better. How do we improve? What’s the lessons learned from this incident?
“Because people will find it very hard, very difficult to accept this error.
“The VAR, when he’s checking the incident, my opinion is that he’s probably focused too much on most of the Rangers player’s body being outside, he doesn’t analyse the holding enough.
“He then says to the AVAR who is supporting him, the AVAR is noting down the yellow card for the Celtic player at the time. He’s focused on the paperwork and that’s a learning curve because we should park the paperwork.
“We can catch up on the paperwork, we can focus on the decision. The ball is dead, AVAR is not watching live play, it’s an opportunity for the team of officials to focus on the incident alone.
“The VAR asks the AVAR, ‘It’s outside, do you agree?’ so even small details like that, that’s a closed question.
“We’ve had the VARs in on Monday and Tuesday to say, ‘We need a question here, look at this incident and assess it for yourself’, there’s more of an opportunity for VAR to assess that from a neutral standpoint rather than be clouded about what the VAR has said.
“More of an understanding for the AVAR to look at it from a neutral point of view than what the VAR’s said.
“How do we make it better? By firstly acknowledging that it’s a very poor decision. It’s an unacceptable decision, the VAR team know that, everybody in refereeing knows it. It’s unacceptable.
“We will do our very best through coaching and analysis to make sure an incident like this never happens again. But it’s a mistake, a bad mistake. You talk about accountability, I was very open when I took up this role at the start of the season that there would be accountability in refereeing.
Decisions must have more transparency as the referee chief insists
“I told the media, managers, that we would deal with things internally. There would be accountability but we’ve been consistent with that throughout the season, I can assure people that.
“I did say if match officials find themselves not involved in future matches or we need to change the profile of certain matches, we won’t come out and publicly say that.
“In the same way a manager doesn’t publicly come out, he’s maybe taken a player out. We’ve got a responsibility to protect the wider group of referees but we’ve also got a real responsibility to protect the match officials involved with this as well.
“So what I’m assuring you is accountability in refereeing, but there has been consistently since I’ve taken this post.”
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