SFA head of referees welcomes ‘very helpful’ backing from Rangers manager Philippe Clement
Scottish referees chief Crawford Allan welcomed Rangers manager Philippe Clement’s “very helpful” backing of match officials after the VAR independent review panel claimed there had been a sharp increase in wrong decisions.
The IRP judged that 16 key match incidents (KMIs) have reached an incorrect outcome since the start of the season- with 13 of them coming in the second full round of cinch Premiership fixtures.
Rangers had made a request to the Scottish Football Association that Willie Collum be excluded from any involvement in any Gers match following a non-penalty incident in the Old Firm game at the end of last year.
The IRP claimed indeed that Collum should have recommended an on-field review for a potential penalty but noted that the offside ruled that the decision not to award the spot-kick was ultimately correct.
Ahead of Collum taking charge of rangers’ cup tie with Ayr last weekend, Clement dismissed notions that any referee is “not neutral” and vowed to leave the past behind as he noted that he makes mistakes “every day probably”.
Allan, head of referee operations at the SFA, said of Clement’s support: “That was very helpful. That comment was very supportive and I know it was well received by the referees.
“I have seen other recent appointees to Scottish football, managers, saying that the initial experiences of Scottish referees are positive, so long may that continue.”
Allan was keen to stress that there was no chance that Collum would have been taken off Rangers duties.
He said: “Every referee will get considered for every match which is at their experience level. I will reiterate that, the Scottish FA will appoint referees to matches as they see fit.”
It was also claimed that the yellow card initially handed out to Rangers midfielder Jose Cifuentes against Dundee in December should have been sufficient.
Cifuentes was initially booked by referee Kevin Clancy for a challenge on Amadou Bakayoko but that was upgraded to a red following a VAR review.
“In terms of the numbers, we look at the reviews and types of incidents and we have got a heck of a lot more right.
“We have literally got hundreds correct and Scottish football has a habit of focusing in on the tip of the iceberg when we have a huge iceberg below which no-one really bothers about because we get it right.
“In the hundreds of potential reviews that we have had this year, we are in the same percentage areas as other countries.
“It is something we won’t lose sight of but we will continue to develop our referees and support them.”