The Scottish FA have shared the audio from the contentious disallowed goal involving Daizen Maeda that occurred during a Scottish Premiership clash between Hibernian and Celtic last month.
The on-field referee Steven McLean awarded Celtic a goal, however Alan Muir on VAR intervened and insisted that it should be ruled out. He claimed the ball had went out of play before Alistair Johnston delivered the assist for Maeda.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers later hit out at the decision, claiming Muir - who has yet to be allocated an officiating role since - "guessed" the outcome.
The below images display the dialogue between the VAR and his assistant as they went through several camera angles before opting to chalk the goal off.
Read more:
- Referees chief: St Mirren denied penalty against Celtic
- Brendan Rodgers reacts to Celtic’s SPFL ticket sanction
Now, SFA head of referees Willie Collum has moved to clarify the thinking on the latest edition of The VAR Review, revealing that McLean's original verdict should've been backed by VAR since there wasn't 100 per cent conclusive evidence to prove otherwise.
Addressing the decision and whether VAR should've even been involved in the process, Collum said: "Let's think what the starting point is? The starting point is the on-field decision. The on-field decision is the assistant referee keeps the flag down and a goal is scored.
"So, as far as the assistant referee is concerned, the ball has not gone out of play.
"The VAR and AVAR of course go into a check, which they are expected to do so. They need to assess with the cameras and the footage available if the ball is out of play.
"Then an angle appears from the main camera and you hear a reaction, the VAR and AVAR both think at that point that's evidence to say the ball is out of play.
"However, what I want to be very clear about, and we coach the VAR's and AVAR's to be certain about this, you need 100 per cent conclusive evidence to disallow the goal here and prove that the ball is over the goal line.
"And in this case, that is not possible. It's not possible to prove categorically that the ball has crossed the goal line fully, because we know from previous examples at World Cup's that a ball can look out from certain angles, but then when you look at the camera above - because in World Cup competitions there's the spider cam and a clear camera on the goal line. A slight part, even a millimetre of the ball can be overhanging that goal line, and that's enough to say that the ball is in play.
"So, in this occasion for us, we expect the on-field decision to be supported and a goal awarded.
"I would also say, if the assistant referee had flagged here and said in his opinion that the ball had crossed the line and it was a goal kick then we would also expect that decision to be supported because there's no 100 per cent conclusive evidence.
"It's impossible to prove otherwise."
Read more:
- Officials named for Scottish Cup quarter-finals, one notable omission
- Lost in Ligue 1: Kyogo struggles since £10m Rennes transfer
On Rodgers' comments and whether goal line technology could've been of benefit in such scenario, Collum stated: "There's two points there to cover. Firstly, goal line technology would only alert on the watch and through the comms system if the ball enters the goal. It doesn't do anything when it goes outside of the goal mouth.
"And the other aspect about guessing, well you hear the audio yourself, both the VAR and the AVAR believe that image, zoomed in from the main camera, proves the ball is out of play to them.
"For us, that is not the case."
