Willie Collum stated that the interpretation of the rule would change as a result of the controversial ruling.
The head of referees in Scottish football has declared that the type of penalty that awarded Celtic a last-gasp William Hill Premiership triumph over Kilmarnock last month should not be granted again.
Referee John Beaton punished Killie defender Lewis Mayo for handball following a VAR review, and Kelechi Iheanacho scored from the spot to secure a 2-1 stoppage-time triumph.
The ball hit Mayo after a shot rebounded off teammate Robbie Deas.
Willie Collum, the Scottish Football Association’s head of referees, told the VAR Review Show: “The arm is definitely up; it’s unnatural.”
“If the shot travels directly here and hits Lewis Mayo in that place without deflection, it’s a penalty kick.
“Even in this circumstance with the deflection, a penalty can be justified in law based on body type. The law does not address deflection or close proximity. This is advise rather than law, and it addresses an abnormal position.
“However, it is about stakeholders’ perspectives, and almost nobody recognised this as a consequence.
“We’ve had good discussions with the KMI (key match incident) panel, clubs, and players, and the consensus is that this should not be punished going ahead.
“such we want to recalibrate this choice such that if it’s in such close proximity and deflected, even if the arm is in this position, we don’t punish it.
“But there’s a little caveat to that, and it’s two crucial words: impact, consequence. If we put something on the goal line and the ball goes into the net, it changes everything.”
Collum also claimed that Hearts’ Lawrence Shankland should have been punished for handball in the buildup to his opening goal against Rangers in a 2-0 victory at Ibrox the same weekend.
“It should have been brought back,” he told me. “Lawrence Shankland’s arm extends too far out here. There is a deflection, but the arm is extended far enough to give. “In our opinion, this goal should have been denied.”
Collum agreed with the rulings made in previous contested handball occurrences in September, claiming Deas should not have been punished against St Mirren because his arm was in a natural posture.
He also fully supported the decisions to award penalties to Hibernian against Falkirk and Dundee United’s Vicko Sevelj, arguing that the midfielder should have earned a yellow card rather than a red because the handball was not deliberate.
Collum said that Martin Boyle’s goal at Ibrox was rightfully disallowed as a factual overturn because the ball struck his hand just before he scored.
The veteran referee also supported the decision to reject a Rangers goal due to a foul by Thelo Aasgaard on Hearts custodian Alexander Schwolow, stating that VAR would not have intervened if the goal had been awarded.
“The Rangers player is focused on the custodian and moves towards the custodian,” he informed me. “There is a hand on the chest area, then eventually a hand on the arm.”
Collum also supported referee Ross Hardie’s decision to uphold the stoppage-time penalty handed to Dundee, which incensed Livingston manager David Martindale.
Hardie was summoned to his monitor after video assistants suggested Charlie Reilly made touch with Danny Wilson after the defender first extended his boot and then grounded it.
“We can fully support the penalty,” Collum stated. “What we don’t want in this particular case is a referee being summoned to the monitor. We don’t think it’s evident that he’s wrong in this case.”
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