Former FIFA ref Stuart Dougal insists VAR COULDN’T intervene at Alfredo Morelos’ controversial disallowed goal against Celtic but admits he would like to see a change to the protocol which would have allowed Kevin Clancy to have a second look at the incident.
Dougal says the fact the whistler didn’t make a “clear and obvious error” meant Nick Walsh was helpless in Clydesdale House as Morelos and Celtic defender Alistair Johnston jostled to win the ball a Borna Barisic’s corner with the Colombian prodding home what he thought was the opening goal.
The same two players were involved in another incident in the second half with footage showing the Hoops Canadian full back appearing to be pulling the striker’s shirt and Dougal insists it was "high risk defending" and says VAR would NOT have overturned the decision if Clancy had pointed to the spot.
But on the storm of the disallowed Morelos goal, Dougal said on BBC’s Vardict: “The problem for certain factions is that VAR can’t intervene because it’s not seen as a clear and obvious error. If there is something much more blatant - there is no contact whatsoever - then VAR could step in and ask the referee to have a look at it again. But where they are looking at that clip and it’s a bit 50/50 or 60/40, depending on what side of the fence you’re on, VAR can’t get involved under the current protocols.
“If I’m the referee in that situation I wouldn’t mind a wee second viewing of that just to make sure the call is correct. Kevin could very well go to the monitor if called by VAR and look at that and say he’s comfortable he’s seen a push and that it takes it into the territory of a foul being committed. He might have looked at it and said the push wasn’t as bad as he thought it looked and VAR would allow him to award the goal.”
Clancy could have allowed the goal to stand and let VAR decide and Dougal said: “It’s a great point but the simple reason is that if Kevin doesn’t call that the way he has and he is relying on VAR and they basically say he’s wrong then it means Kevin is wrong. So by not making a decision he can still be wrong. It’s important the referee team - not just the match official - call the shots as they see them and if they need VAR to ‘rescue’ them then that’s what can happen.”
On the second half incident involving the two players, Dougal said: “He would have looked at all the major incidents in the penalty area and support the fact there hasn’t been a clear and obvious error. That’s into the borderline whether there’s enough in there to get Kevin to have a look at that. Both players, we’re seeing it a lot, where there is a bit of jousting going on. VAR would get involved if one is being clearly impeded and the other is making no attempt to go for the ball. That’s where VAR would probably step in and say 'there’s too much going on'.
“In this situation there was a bit of wrestling and if a penalty was given then VAR wouldn’t have overturned it because it wasn't a clear and obvious error the other way. High risk defending but not enough in it for VAR to get involved. It comes down to how much you are impeding the opponent. If you are just shirt pulling but not causing an offence then it will be play on.”
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