Referee Ross Hardie was unable to rule out Cyriel Dessers‘ goal in Rangers’ 6-0 win over Ross County because of an earlier foul by host midfielder Tom Lawrence, Scottish FA head of referees Willie Collum has explained.
Collum highlighted eight controversial incidents in The VAR Review, a new monthly show on the Scottish FA’s YouTube channel, saying he was “content with the start we’ve made”.
Rangers 6-0 Ross County – 24 August
County claimed Dessers’ goal should have been disallowed because Tom Lawrence had fouled Connor Randall in the build-up.
“It is a clear foul for me the referee has missed on-field,” Collum conceded. “It is a reckless tackle by the Rangers player. But VAR is not there to re-referee the match.”
Collum points out that “there are far too many passes” between the foul and the goal, it therefore is not part of the same attacking phase of play and VAR was unable to intervene.