Rangers took the SFA to task over the decision not to award them a handball against Celtic and Madden has plenty of sympathy for whistler Nick Walsh.
Bobby Madden feels there is one lingering point in Rangers’ handball dispute with the SFA…and that the Ibrox club is right to be upset after a ‘mistake’ was committed.
Rangers and the Scottish Football Association are at odds over the decision not to give them a penalty for handball against Alistair Johnston in the December 30 derby against Celtic. On-field ref Nick Walsh did not point to the spot, nor did VAR Willie Collum, and a photograph later emerged that appeared to show Abdallah Sima in an offside position during the buildup.
But that hasn’t satisfied fuming Rangers who met with the SFA on Wednesday to review the audio from the incident. They claimed the offside WASN’T mentioned in the VAR room, and that a consensus was reached that an error was made by not awarding them a penalty. Their version of events has been strongly disputed by the governing body, though Gers have since requested that Collum NOT be involved in their matches going forward as a result.
Former SFA official Madden believes Walsh’s failure to make the call on the pitch is understandable. But it’s the ‘unresolved issue’ of the offside photograph, which he believes was leaked by the person in charge of VAR on the day, that’s fueling his rage. And he believes it was a mistake to raise that as a defence.
“What did people expect?” he tweeted. In my judgement, the referee missed a call on the pitch, which is understandable. VAR did not believe it was a penalty and did not examine the APP (attacking phase of play). When it comes to subjective decisions, mistakes happen. The outstanding concern is the delay in releasing the offside image.
“The person in charge of VAR would have shared the offside image, most likely thinking it was a good idea to demonstrate that the penalty couldn’t be awarded either way.” That was a mistake on their side, in my opinion.”
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