IT was the most controversial weekend for big referee calls since the Premiership campaign got underway in August.
Officials up and down the country came under the spotlight, with some game defining decisions coming under fire at both Ibrox and Rugby Park.
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The SFA’s Key Match Incident Panel (KMI) have analysed all of the big calls throughout the Premiership and as many as FOUR have been deemed incorrect.
Two wrong decisions are believed to have occurred at Ibrox, one at Rugby Park and another at Easter Road during the showdown between Hibs and Dundee United.
Hearts beat Rangers 2-0 on Saturday and both goals from Lawrence Shankland were called into question following incidents in the lead up to both of them.
The Light Blues were felt they were hard done by with his first goal after the ball appeared to strike Shankland’s arm in the build-up.
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Referee Steven McLean didn’t see it and wasn’t sent to the monitor to review the incident, with VAR backing the on-fiend decision.
But the KMI Panel have stated that this was the WRONG decision, with a unanimous 3-0 verdict.
“The panel unanimously agreed that the on-field decision was incorrect. The panel highlighted VAR was incorrect not to intervene to recommend an OFR and the goal should have been disallowed for a handball in the APP.”
Hearts might have kept a clean sheet come full-time, but Rangers did have the ball in the net in the second half.
Derek Cornelius headed home on the 66th minute but it didn’t stand following an altercation between Thelo Aasgaard and Hearts goalie Alexander Schwolow.
Aasgaard was deemed to have pushed the Jambos keeper in the box and was punished by the referee and VAR for the flashpoint.
However, similar to Shanland’s first goal, this decision has been deemed incorrect by the KMI panel as well.
They state that both the on-field decision to not award the goal and the VAR’s decision not to overturn it was another error on the officials’ part.
A statement read: “The majority (2:1) of the panel deemed the on-field decision of foul on the goalkeeper to be incorrect.
“Two panel members felt a VAR intervention should have taken place and the goal should have stood following an OFR. One panel member felt that the onfield decision was correct and VAR was correct not to intervene.”
The third and final major flashpoint occurred again in the second half when Shankland’s scored from the penalty spot following a foul on Harry Milne from Mohamed Diomande.
Unlike the other two incidents, the KMI panel have backed both the onfield decision and the final call made by VAR.
They state: “The majority (2:1) of the panel deemed the on-field decision of penalty kick being awarded correct. One panel member felt that VAR should have intervened and recommended an OFR for an overturn of the penalty kick.”
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Away from Rangers and Hearts, Celtic also had a huge call go their way against Kilmarnock.
The Hoops finally secured three points at Rugby Park through Kelechi Iheanacho from 12 yards in stoppage time after the ball struck Lewis Mayo’s arm in the box from a close-range deflection off his team-mate Robbie Deas.
It’s a decision that sparked outrage and although Killie boss Stuart Kettlewell wasn’t happy with it, he admitted that he believes the ‘standard’ has been set with handballs this season.
And it’s a decision that the KMI aren’t happy with either as a majority of 2:1 believe the penalty award was another incorrect call.
They state: “The majority (2:1) of the panel deemed the on-field decision (before VAR intervention) to be correct.
“Two panel members felt the VAR intervention was incorrect and a penalty kick should not have been awarded for a handball. One panel member felt VAR was correct to intervene and the decision of a penalty kick for handball after review was correct.”
Finally, the decision NOT to award a penalty to Hibs for a handball from Dundee United’s Vicko Ševelj was another wrong decision.
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The KMI panel state: “The majority (2:1) of the panel deemed the on-field decision (before VAR intervention) of no penalty kick and no caution as correct. The majority (2:1) believed VAR was incorrect
to intervene and recommend an OFR for deliberate handball.
“The majority (2:1) of the panel then believed the referee was incorrect in awarding a penalty kick for handball after
OFR. One member of the panel believed VAR was correct to intervene and recommend an OFR for a penalty kick and believed the final decision of a penalty kick was correct. However, they highlighted that a second caution.”
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