Willie Collum denies 'handball problem' as contentious Rangers, Celtic and Hearts decisions addressed

The Scottish Premiership match on November 22 was tied at 1-1 midway through the first half when an attempt on goal by Livingston striker Tete Yengi was blocked by the hand of Rangers defender Emmanuel Fernandez.

Livingston manager David Martindale revealed that VAR official John Beaton had contacted him to apologise for failing to recommend an on field review for a penalty after referee Ross Hardie had failed to spot the offence.

Now the incident has been addressed for the first time by Scottish FA head of referees Collum as he poured over a number of contentious handball decisions on the monthly VAR Review show.

"This is an error for us," Collum said. "The VAR is also disappointed with the decision on reflection. We will make mistakes. We feel we've improved in terms of making less mistakes, however, this is an example of a type of mistake that we need to eradicate because it's very hard for people to understand.

"This is a punishable handball. The arm is far too outstretched from the body and we need to get that right. We need the VAR team to be able to use the criteria to come to the right conclusion. This is one we want to prevent moving forward."

Collum reviewed a further four handball incidents and deemed that the correct decision had been reached on each occasion, including another one involving Rangers defender Fernandez when the ball hit his hand from a long-throw in during his side's 2-2 draw at Dundee United on December 3.

"This decision is correct for us," Collum said. "The Rangers player is clearly bringing his arm down and in towards the body. This is not punishable. If the referee had blown for a penalty kick we expect them to be brought to the monitor to overturn that decision. I would imagine the majority of people in football don't want this punished."

Collum also addressed Falkirk's penalty claim in their 2-0 defeat to Hearts on December 13 when a goalbound shot by Kyrell Wilson struck the arm of Hearts defender Harry Milne while it was tucked against his body.

"One million per cent this is not a penalty," Collum stressed. "If a penalty kick had been awarded here it would have been categorically wrong and would have required [VAR] intervention. It's not punishable... it's actually never been punishable."

The VAR intervention to award Hibs a penalty for a handball by Celtic defender Liam Scales in the match at Easter Road on November 30 was also praised - as was the decision to deny Hearts an injury-time spot-kick in their 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock after defender Dom Thompson headed the ball onto his own arm.

"I'm a bit disappointed that we're starting to have a narrative that we have a handball problem again," Collum said. "I don't think we have a handball problem. We acknowledge the Rangers-Livingston handball was an error, it should have been a penalty kick, but the others we believe are correct. It just so happens we're going through a period of quite a lot of contentious decisions. But we're quite content that our match officials are applying the criteria correctly, with the exception of Rangers-Livingston."

A further three incidents were reviewed - all involving Rangers.

Collum addressed the injury-time penalty awarded at Tannadice which rescued a 2-2 draw for Danny Rohl's side when Max Aarons was adjudged to have been caught by United defender Will Ferry.

"We feel we've been consistent with these types of decisions," he said. "The attacker wins the ball, the defender is just late, they miss the ball, and make contact with the opponent. For us it's a clear penalty."

A robust challenge by Rangers goalkeeper Jack Bultand on Kilmarnock's Bruce Anderson during his side's 3-0 win at Rugby Park on December 6 was also reviewed but Collum was satisfied that no further action was taken by VAR due to the fact there was no serious foul play or denying a goalscoring opportunity.

Likewise, Collum was content with the VAR decision to dismiss a Kilmarmock penalty claim for an off-the-ball pull on David Watson by Rangers midfielder Mohamed Diomande in the same match as it had no impact on the play. The offence did take place in the box but the ball had been blocked for a corner.

"The ball never, ever arrives in the penalty area," Collum explained. "It goes for a corner. People will say a foul is a foul, but where do we draw the line? If this is a reckless action, it's a different scenario, and there would be more scope to be involved, but we need to draw the line somewhere. Not everybody will be comfortable with that."