Scottish Premiership club demand VAR change as rescinded red card becomes 'eighth incorrect decision against us'

Motherwell defender Kofi Balmer was sent off in the 26th minute of Saturday’s 2-0 William Hill Premiership defeat by Kilmarnock at Rugby Park after catching Fraser Murray on the thigh as he followed through on a clearance. Referee Matthew MacDermid issued the punishment after being alerted by video assistant Andrew Dallas.

However, the appeal panel convened by the Scottish Football Association on Tuesday did not even view the incident worthy of a yellow card with a decision made to rescind the red card.

Motherwell were one down at the time and defeat could have ended their top-six hopes, although Balmer will be free to face Hearts on Saturday as the Steelmen seek the win they need to leapfrog their visitors, while hoping St Mirren drop points at home to Ross County.

Well also had a red card for Dan Casey overturned after a previous meeting with Kilmarnock and they are growing increasingly frustrated with a number of VAR-related decisions that have gone against them.

A statement read: “The club are delighted that the correct decision has eventually been reached.

“However, this doesn’t get away from the fact Motherwell played with 10 men for over 75 minutes in an important fixture just prior to the split.

“This is the second time this season the club has had to go through the time, effort and expenditure to appeal a red card decision.

“We have concerns that VAR felt that this was an obvious refereeing error in the first place. Again, the on-field review has come out with the wrong outcome.

“We spend a significant six-figure sum each season towards the running costs of VAR at the stadium.

“There have been eight instances so far this season where Motherwell have been directly impacted by what has subsequently been deemed an incorrect referee or VAR decision.

“This was as recent as last week when a tackle on Andy Halliday (by Aberdeen’s Pape Gueye) went unpunished, and the SFA’s KMI panel viewed it as a unanimous red card.

“These continued errors throughout the season, for all clubs, will have a direct impact on where teams will finish in the final standings, which obviously determines finances for each club.

“We hope that with the financial commitment put on the club to use VAR, combined with the frustration our fans get from the game due to the intervention from VAR, we see significant improvement in its implementation going forward.”