Rangers Demand Explanation for VAR Decision in Celtic Loss

Rangers Football Club met with the Scottish Football Association (SFA) on Wednesday to discuss the controversial VAR decision in their 2-1 defeat against Celtic. The club claims that the VAR audio does not mention a potential offside, raising concerns about the accuracy of the decision.

Meeting with the SFA

During the meeting, Rangers expressed their dissatisfaction with the ruling that there was no handball by Celtic’s Alistair Johnson. The club believes that the decision was incorrect and that there was a lack of communication regarding a potential offside position by Abdallah Sima, who was involved in the penalty appeal.

BBC Scotland has reached out to the SFA for comment on the matter.

Rangers’ Request for VAR Audio

Rangers had initially requested the release of the audio recording of referee Nick Walsh and VAR Willie Collum discussing the incident four days prior to the meeting with the SFA.

Concerns over Offside Decision

The club’s main concern is that the offside position of Abdallah Sima was not addressed during the VAR review. Rangers argue that this omission raises doubts about the accuracy and fairness of the decision.

The SFA has not made the VAR audio public, further fueling speculation and frustration among Rangers and their supporters.

Rangers’ Official Statement

A spokesperson for Rangers FC issued a statement following the meeting, stating:

“Rangers FC today met Scottish FA officials to discuss the VAR handball call and subsequent miscommunications from Saturday’s Old Firm match. From the meeting, there was an overriding consensus that the VAR decision of no handball was incorrect. Having listened to the audio, there is no mention of a potential offside at the time of the handball decision. Rangers is also deeply concerned at the haste at which the erroneous no handball call was made. Rangers has appealed to the Scottish FA to release the audio and explain this decision, and future contentious decisions involving all clubs, to the public, as would be common practice in England for such a decision. The club has made a number of specific requests that it hopes the Scottish FA will respond to in order to improve matters going forward.”

Rangers expects the SFA to address their concerns and provide transparency regarding the VAR decision-making process.