Mallon said that Hearts fans had “been extremely concerned by a number of refereeing and VAR decisions across the last two rounds of fixtures, which have had a significant impact on outcomes for Hearts and others”.
“That this has occurred at such a crucial stage of the season is particularly disappointing. We understand that the club shares these concerns and has made representations to the football authorities seeking clarification on recent decisions. At a time when Scottish football is subject to heightened scrutiny, both nationally and internationally, it is important that confidence in officiating standards is maintained.”
Why was Beaton only shown one VAR angle on Wednesday night?
There were 12 cameras at the game as per most fixtures broadcast on Sky Sports. For the biggest games like the Old Firm matches or the Edinburgh derby there can be 18-20. Some games have the minimum of six. In the Premier League in England the minimum of 28 cameras are available to VAR.
Is there a Premier League involvement?
The head of VAR at the SFA is the former long-serving Premier League referee Martin Atkinson. One of the highest-profile Premier League referees in the Mike Riley era at PGMOL, Atkinson was less well-known on the European stage – compared to his peer Mark Clattenburg – although he did referee the 2015 Europa League final. Atkinson retired in 2022 and became the manager of PGMOL’s select group referees. He joined the SFA in Oct 2024, following another former PGMOL colleague, Jon Moss.
The VAR at Fir Park on Wednesday night was referee Andrew Dallas, whose father Hugh, was a referee at the highest level in Scotland for 25 years and officiated at the 1998 and 2002 World Cup finals. Since February last year, Hugh has taken Atkinson’s role as select group manager at PGMOL – in charge of the leading referees. He is effectively deputy to chief refereeing officer, Webb.
Like PGMOL, the SFA convenes a key match incident [KMI] panel of independent observers to review referee decisions. They will report next week on the events at Fir Park and may reach a conclusion different to that of Collum and his colleagues at the SFA.