Rangers vs Celtic handball controversy pushes Scottish FA to look at rule change
Controversy surrounding a handball incident in Rangers’ Old firm clash against Celtic on 2 January is leading the Scottish FA to consider changing its rules on handballs, according to The Athletic’s Jordan Campbell.
The incident in question was an alleged Connor Goldson handball in the Glasgow derby clash, one which has left Celtic fans outraged since the game ended.
Campbell shared that the Scottish FA have put the handball rule on the agenda in the next Professional Game Board meeting due to mass confusion over it.
“It is understood the SFA has put the subject of handball on the agenda for the next PGB meeting,” said Campbell as quoted by The Athletic.
“The ambiguity of the rule is what is leading to such heated fall-outs, and why Celtic believe they should have been awarded a penalty for a Connor Goldson handball in their 2-2 draw with Rangers at Ibrox on Monday.
“The aftermath of that game has been dominated by criticism of the referee and his assistants, as it so often is following these derbies, but with officials confused by the rule, the conversation has to be dialled down.”
VAR worthwhile?
Some people believe that VAR is a useful tool that helps referees make more accurate decisions, but controversies like this only cast its relevance into doubt.
It is a system that was meant to be used to help referees make more accurate decisions, but the Goldson debacle makes it seem like it’s made things more confusing despite it seemingly following the guidelines.
And it’s not like this is the first time an incident has had to be questioned in the Scottish Premiership, as Goldson joins a long line of issues raised in recent times.
VAR was meant to provide Scottish Premiership referees with some leeway in their decisions but instead, it’s created more outrage and criticism to be pointed their way.
Hopefully, the vague handball rule which means one thing to one referee and something entirely different to another gets sorted out sharply.
Discussions and changes will only help matters moving forward but it’s hard to see a game without any questions being raised about continuous calls anytime soon.
In other Rangers news, the Gers want to sign this South American ace who’s playing in Europe.