Dundee and VAR: Willie Collum insists ref was right on Ross County penalty that relegated St Johnstone

The Courier

5 days ago

Willie Collum says Nick Walsh was right to award the penalty kick that denied Dundee a crucial victory over Ross County and relegated St Johnstone.
Heading into stoppage time in the penultimate fixture of the season, the Dark Blues were leading 1-0 at Dens Park.
A win would see the Dee safe from relegation and would also give Saints the opportunity to overtake the Staggies on the final day.
However, ref Nick Walsh controversially punished Antonio Portales for handball and Ronan Hale equalised from the spot.
The decision was branded 'an absolute disgrace'.
However, head of refereeing Collum has backed his official.
In the monthly VAR Review from the SFA on YouTube, audio from the incident has been released.
After the ball brushed Portales's arm, VAR Andrew Dallas said: 'I need to check that.'
Referee Nick Walsh: 'Penalty. Handball. I think the arm is above shoulder height.'
VAR: 'Slight touch on his head and then it hits off the hand.
VAR: 'Nick, it's Andrew. We're just going to check the APP (attacking phase of play). Just to tell you his team-mate's headed it and [Portales] has his back to him.
'But the arm is above the head, above shoulder height. It's close proximity but it does hit his hand and it's above shoulder height.
'There's no impact from the attacker on the defender.
'Confirming on-field decision of penalty kick. Check complete.'
Willie Collum defended the decision but admitted interpretation of the handball law may change for next season.
He said: 'We have listened to a lot of the perception of the decision. I won't ever just defend decisions in this show.
'I'll be open and transparent.
'In terms of the laws of the game, this is a correct interpretation because the arm is far too high above the head.
'The referee is right in his judgement to award the penalty kick.
'There is nothing in the law to say it should be ruled out. It says that anybody with an arm high in the air runs the risk of being punished.
'The referee was very clear, the VAR discuss the situation so when that is clarified there is no reason to bring the referee to the monitor here.
'People have said that but why?
'In terms of law this season, that is a correct interpretation.
'I would say we think we are in a better place in terms of handball. We looked at a lot of clips from last season to learn. This is a clip we need to look at again.
'We have a lot of discussion post-season with this kind of incident.
'There's a possibility next season [it isn't given]. We will listen to people's views. There are a lot of ifs and buts but in terms of law nobody can say that isn't given.'
The VAR Review also covered two other controversial decisions that went against the Dark Blues.
Collum admitted he was 'disappointed' in VAR's process to review a push by Kilmarnock's Kyle Vassell on Simon Murray not because it was a foul but because it was outside the area.
Another involving Antonio Portales proved far more controversial. The Mexican had already volleyed in one beauty against Motherwell and struck another into the top corner to put Dundee 2-0 up.
However, offside was given against Clark Robertson in the build-up, a decision then-Dee boss Tony Docherty blasted as a 'disgrace'.
Again Collum backed the decision but admitted the referee should have been brought to the monitor to review it personally.
He said: '[Clark Robertson] comes out to challenge the Motherwell player and moves his leg to challenge. Making that challenging motion, that was enough for the VAR team to say this was impact.
'We shared this clip far and wide. The KMI panel looked at it in detail, we looked at it with the referees.
'It was probably 60-40 in favour of offside. That means we want to review it, look at it in the close season with the clubs, players and coaches as well as the match officials to think about our direction of travel moving forward.
'We are content with the decision. Where we are not content is the process. Categorically, the referee should have been brought to the monitor.
'This is not a factual decision. It is factual that the player is offside, but subjective whether he impacts the move.
'That should be left to the on-field match official.'