VAR hasn’t gone down well in Scottish football, with many Celtic fans in favour of the technology being scrapped.
The introduction of the technology was meant to assist referees make the correct calls on the pitch, particularly in crucial moments.
However, the system has become a central topic of debate among fans, players and managers, after a series of mistakes this season.
In this week’s episode of the Behind the Whistles podcast, former SFA Grade 1 referees Des Roache and Steve Conroy discussed a contentious incident from Celtic’s 3-0 victory over Hearts.
They pointed out an overlooked challenge by Hearts’ midfielder Dexter Lembikisa on Celtic’s James Forrest, which, according to them, should have been a red card offence. The incident bore a striking resemblance to a previous challenge by Yang at Tynecastle, which had resulted in a red card. We wrote about this, calling out VAR’s inconsistencies.
Roache expressed his surprise at the lack of coverage from major sports broadcasters in the highlight shows. “I was really surprised, first and foremost, that it wasn’t highlighted on any of the highlights packages, so to speak, whether it be BBC or Sky, etc,” he said.
“I wasn’t really aware of it until we were talking this morning. I don’t really see any difference in that challenge from the Yang one that was at Tynecastle. It’s pretty much the same challenge.
“And if you’ve got your studs in the face of a player, listen we all said it was a red card for Yang, if we are going to be consistent and we want to be plausible and credible as commentators, then that’s a red card.”
Conroy agreed, underscoring the inconsistency: “Yep, there’s no way around it. It’s a red card. We certainly had to state a case when we said that Yang should be sent off but we’re seeing the exact same tackle this time, so it should have the same outcome.
“That should have been a red card. And I agree, I don’t know why that didn’t go to VAR.”
These referees were also questioning if McGregor should’ve seen red during the match.
The oversight by VAR in this instance adds to a growing list of grievances associated with the use of this technology in the league. Critics argue that VAR seems overly eager to intervene in certain cases, like awarding penalties or issuing red cards, yet it misses similar incidents elsewhere, leading to questions about its effectiveness and consistency.
The challenge on James Forrest came in the same week when the SFA’s independent panel claimed Yang was correctly sent off for his high boot, adding an extra layer of frustration to the incident.
