(Credit: TNT Sports)

UEFA to 'punish Istvan Kovacs' after Rangers drama v Athletic Bilbao - Exclusive

Refereeing Consultant AUTHORITY Former FIFA Referee; Head of PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited). Focus: Laws of the Game, VAR implementation, officiating performance, and PGMOL policy. THE AUDIT Keith utilises Statscore’s Officiating Telemetry, including Deep-Data Metrics like Incident Accuracy Rates, VAR Intervention Latency, and Official Positional Efficiency. He provides technical refereeing analysis to reveal the regulatory reality behind match-defining decisions.

Published on:

10 Apr 2025, 4:50 pm

Istvan Kovacs may not be seen in the Europa League again this season after Rangers' showdown against Athletic Bilbao at Ibrox on Thursday.

The Romanian referee was at the heart of the drama, with VAR recommending he overturned his initial yellow card to send off Robin Propper within 13 minutes.

Bilbao and Maroan Sannadi were then furious in the second half, after the striker was booked for diving despite replays showing contact from Leon Balogun in the box.

The Spanish side were then somehow awarded a penalty for a supposed handball by Dujon Sterling, with VAR stepping in to disallow a goal before recommending the spotkick, which Kovacs awarded.

Liam Kelly became a hero, saving the powerful strike to secure a 0-0 draw.

Propper was sent off for Rangers v Bilbao (Credit: Imago)

Kovacs set for UEFA punishment after Rangers drama

Keith Hackett has shared that UEFA hold stricter regimes than individual countries for their referees, and that could see Kovacs punished.

The ex-FIFA referee believes that if referees get a major decision wrong in UEFA competition, they are unlikely to be appointed again in that season, with the red card clear.

"Rangers can have no complaints with the decision of the referee to send off Robin Proper after he committed an offence that denied the opponent an obvious goal-scoring opportunity," Hackett exclusively told Ibrox News.

"VAR intervention allowed the referee a second look to deliver the correct decision, rightly overturning his initial yellow card.

"UEFA operate a strict regime with regard to the delivery of performance. The officials on the Elite panel are the very best referees in their country.

"If a referee in a UEFA game gets a key major incident decision wrong, then he is unlikely to receive a further appointment for the remainder of the season."

Rangers interim boss Barry Ferguson has impressed so far (Credit: Imago)

Unbelievable Rangers scenes v Bilbao

Barry Ferguson will have been kicking every ball on the sideline and saw himself booked for that.

His decision to start Kelly over Jack Butland was rewarded in the biggest way possible, with the goalkeeper saving that all-important late penalty to keep it goalless.

Rangers	Athletic Bilbao
Propper sent off - 13
	Sannadi penalty denied - 53
	Berenguer penalty missed - 81

Kovacs and VAR had a night to forget at Ibrox

It will all be on the line in Bilbao next week.

Keith Hackett

Istvan Kovacs