VAR continues to grab the headlines in Scottish football after a run of controversial decisions since it was implemented in October of last year. Celtic now might have an opportunity to work with the other SPFL clubs and help the SFA improve matters by taking forward some clear and simple steps in the future.
There have been many strange moments involving VAR in Scotland, including what seems to have been a camera error when Celtic played Motherwell, and Jota’s goal was chopped off for offside using an angle from the other half of the pitch. The vast majority of the controversy though relates to an inconsistent approach being taken towards handballs inside the penalty box.
Of course,, the times Connor Goldson has been involved in handball claims in his last few matches feature highly in the VAR debates amongst the Scottish football fans. But it’s not entirely about Celtic or the Rangers.
There have been handball incidents and issues in many other games and affecting other clubs as well and it is clearly a game wide issue in Scotland at the moment.
Celtic must be happy with Scottish FA’s VAR plans
There now seem to be some steps being taken to try to resolve the issues. As the Daily Record, Scottish football is set to hold a VAR summit next week in an attempt to bring changes to the handball rule. And Professional Game Board has contacted all top flight clubs for their suggestions ahead of the meeting, while SFA chiefs are planning an end of season VAR review with all Premiership clubs.
There are four points which Celtic and the SPFL clubs should insist on as part of the VAR discussions and review:
Define handball clearly. Explain what is/what isn’t.
Use real examples from games and point out where appropriate that going forward the decision may differ from when the examples happened.
Apply the handball rule consistently in each match by all referees and have that overseen and upheld consistently by VAR.
Explain decisions more clearly and improve communication at matches/on TV.
If all these issues can be cleared up, and it should not be too hard to do so, then VAR will be in a much better position than it is now.