The incident has dominated the talking points coming out of the 2-1 victory for the Premiership leaders.
Celtic star Alistair Johnston appears to handle the ball against Rangers
It has emerged as the main talking point from derby day – but why was Celtic star Alistair Johnston not instantly punished for a handball against Rangers?
The Light Blues went down 2-1 at Parkhead to leave them trailing Celtic by eight points in the Scottish Premiership, albeit with two games in hand over their rivals after Paul Bernardo and Kyogo netted for the home side either side of half-time. James Tavernier’s stunning late free kick proved to be nothing but a consolation – with the visitors being down to 10 men after Leon Balogun saw red.
But the debate continues to rumble on over a first-half flashpoint after right-back Johnston appeared to handle the ball in a tussle with Abdallah Sima. Replays appeared to show the Canadian international pushing the ball out of play just before the break, but referee Nick Walsh did not point to the spot. Replays would later show that Sima had strayed into an offside position when the ball was played in with Sky Sports later clarifying the situation – despite Neil Lennon, Kris Boyd and James McFadden uniting during the half-time debrief to state a penalty should have been awarded.
Both Rangers and Philippe Clement have been left reeling with the decision – with an Ibrox club statement claiming broadcaster Sky was also “unhappy” with the process. But the initial penalty was not awarded as VAR Willie Collum believed that a clear and obvious error had not been made.
He believed that Celtic player’s hand was in a natural position when it made contact with the ball. That is why Walsh allowed Joe Hart to take a free-kick rather than a goal kick when restarting play. This means that the offside is irrelevant in the context of VAR and Walsh’s initial decision.
If Collum had sent Walsh to the monitor to review the incident, subsequent replays would have shown that Sima was in an offside position in the attacking phase of play. This would mean that a penalty would not have stood even if it had been awarded.
In Clydesdale House, Collum did not award the initial penalty so no further checks were needed of offside. IFAB rules state that penalties for handball are awarded if they believe the movement of the hand or arm to the ball is unnatural position – and Collum did not.
Peter Grant questioned the decision to award a goal-kick rather than a free-kick for offside when play was restarted. He told Sportscene: “Everybody is not aware of what is happening and it gives you a problem. Then they take a by-kick which tells me it isn’t offside. Or is that them clutching at straws? I don’t know.”
But VAR would not intervene in a goal-kick or free-kick decision. Therefore, Collum would not have told Walsh to overturn the on-field decision.
Former SFA referee Steve Conroy stated that VAR could only intervene once the penalty had been awarded – with Collum only on hand to check the initial handball before the follow-up checks.
Conroy told Sports Lens that the spot-kick should have been awarded initially: “It was a clear penalty. Offside is irrelevant. VAR can only check for an offside if there is a consequence -ie a goal. There wasn’t.
“Willie Collum is there to check whether there was a hand ball or not. The telling situation is that the game was restarted with a goal kick – not an indirect free kick, which would have been the case if the offside was awarded.”
