Willie Collum addresses three penalty incidents impacting Hearts as error admitted and Celtic spot kick backed

Scottish FA’s head of referees Willie Collum has addressed three penalty incidents that affected Hearts’ title bid.

Collum has admitted publicly that the Jambos should have had a penalty against Motherwell on May 9. Celtic were awarded a controversial spot kick against the Steelmen at Fir Park a few days later, directly impacting the Tynecastle side’s league hopes as they eventually finished second, but Collum has defended that call amid fierce criticism. He has also backed a call that denied Hearts a penalty earlier in the Motherwell game for a handball by Emmanuel Longelo during the first half.

Jambos boss Derek McInnes has previously been told winger Alexandros Kyziridis should have had a penalty in the clash with Motherwell, during the final week of 25/26’s Premiership season, after a challenge by Tawanda Maswanhise. It was later revealed the Key Match Incident Panel voted two against one that a penalty for Celtic against Motherwell a game later that allowed the Hoops to turn a 2-2 draw into a 3-2 success was incorrect. Motherwell’s Sam Nicholson was deemed to have handled the ball in an aerial challenge against Auston Trusty after a second look through VAR.

Kyziridis, meanwhile, was turned down over a penalty shout following VAR consultation. Both calls contributed to a situation that meant Celtic headed into a title decider at home against Hearts needing just to win rather than doing so by a three-goal margin. They achieved a 3-1 success and the Jambos were hurried off the park amid a home fans pitch invasion.

There have also been dark undertones in the wake of worldwide coverage from the Nicholson decision as match referee John Beaton was forced to have overnight police protection that week. Personal details were leaked online and now Collum’s keenly-anticipated VAR Review show on the incidents has been released.

Hearts penalty claim after VAR check vs Motherwell

Firstly assessing the initial drama at Fir Park, from a short corner, Kyziridis cut in front of Motherwell’s Maswanhise. The forward’s arms were raised in the air after alleged contact and referee Steve McLean was called to the monitor by VAR. It was stated in the VAR control room that ‘if there’s contact it’s got to be a penalty kick’ as McClean was shown two angles. He asked for a better angle that wasn’t available so his original decision of no penalty was stuck by due to not seeing enough in the challenge. Collum said: “The VAR team feel it's a penalty so they bring the referee over. There's been a bit of a debate about whether this is a clear error. But once the referee comes to the monitor, they expected the penalty to be awarded. My personal opinion is that's a penalty. There's some debate within refereeing and we'll discuss it in pre-season. But I feel it should be awarded.”

Hearts penalty claim for handball vs Motherwell

Earlier in the game at Fir Park, Motherwell left-back Longelo appeared to make contact with the ball, via his arm. McClean judged on the pitch that it was above the t-shirt line and replays viewed by VAR had them arriving at the same conclusion. Collum said: “I think even in terms of contradicting the VAR, looking at two angles, the circumference of the ball there, it touches the yellow part of the kit. This is the t-shirt line, but what I would say is that this is a movement of the arm towards the ball. If this player touches the ball with a punishable part of the arm, then for sure this should be a penalty kick, but this is really good, accurate on-field decision making. We talk about needing VAR. The referee accurately calls this and the VAR images also support it, live game on Sky, good footage, good camera angles, clear for us.”

Celtic penalty vs Motherwell

Moving onto a throw-in towards the end of Motherwell vs Celtic, Nicholson and Trusty contested each other for a header. There was little reaction from players or fans as Celtic looked to hurry the game up but Beaton paused amid a VAR check. It emerged it was for handball but worldwide debate sparked over whether Nicholson possibly headed away from danger. The assistant VAR official flagged Nicholson’s hand being in an unnatural position before Andrew Dallas, who was in control at Clydesdale House, claimed it ‘definitely’ hit his hand. There were issues with communication between Beaton and the VAR team but eventually the message got to him over a possible spot-kick. Beaton asked Dallas if it definitely hits Nicholson’s arm, which he said it had, and the spot-kick was awarded.

Collum said: “For us there's clear evidence, particularly the still image. In our opinion this is clear. When you strip it back, 95th minute of the match, VAR goes through a clear process. They're clear it's a handball. When the referee comes over, he agrees. So we fully support the decision. When you bring a ref to the monitor, you've already come to the conclusion that it's hit the hand. The ref's focus has to be to check the position of the arm. He just quickly confirms 'has it hit the arm?' You wouldn't bring him over if it hadn't.

“The player takes a huge risk when he jumps with his hand in that position .It's not a foul on the Motherwell player. We've been consistent with handballs. Falkirk against Hibs, Connor Barron against Falkirk. We believe we've been consistent in our approach. There's three key people here. The VAR, the AVAR and the referee. They see this as a clear error and a punishable handball. It's crucial they identify that. We don't always agree with them. We can't mark our own homework. But they're welcome to their opinion. If you look at the KMI stats, we're down on errors from last season.”

The Scottish Football Social Club is presented by BetSBK.com | 18+ | Gamble Responsibly