David Dickinson in the VAR room backed up the call from referee Ryan Lee at Celtic Park
Celtic striker Tomas Cvancara goes down under pressure from Dundee’s Luke Graham
Celtic have been told it was “incredible” that striker Tomas Cvancara saw a penalty claim snubbed in the clash with Dundee.
With the Scottish Cup showdown goalless, the frontman was involved in a tussle with visiting defender Luke Graham on the edge of the box. The Celtic star would collapse with the contact continuing into the area.
Referee Ryan Lee awarded a free kick following the flashpoint, while David Dickinson and the VAR team checked the incident before play resumed before backing the man in the middle. The SFA would release a statement explaining the snub – stating that a push can only be punished “at the initial point of contact.”
But the flashpoint has left a number of pundits baffled, with former Rangers star Alex Rae insisting Dundee should have been penalised. He told Clyde 1 Superscoreboard: “It’s incredible, isn’t it?
“It’s very difficult to say how that isn’t a penalty, because you are continually pushing into the box and he is on his way down. For me, it doesn’t seem right that you don’t get a penalty for that, no matter what team that is.
“If someone is pushing you and it starts outside the box, and they are still pushing you when you end up in the box I don’t see why it [the foul] would be back outside the box.”
Former Premier League and FIFA referee Keith Hackett also disagreed with the call by the match officials. Posting to X about the incident, he said: “This should have resulted in a penalty kick.”
He also called for action from the SFA’s Head of Refereeing Willie Collum. He told Football Insider: “I do hope that Willie Collum will review this decision.
“Not that it can be changed, of course. It is evident from this replay that the player’s foot was clearly inside the penalty area when he was pushed. I therefore believe that a penalty kick should have been awarded.
“To aid this process and come to this conclusion, VAR should have sent the referee to the monitor in order to review the incident.”
The SFA statement on the decision read: “In the 38th minute, a free kick is correctly awarded outside the penalty area because the pushing began outside and continued inside.
“However, it can only be punished if it is holding that continues inside. Pushing can only be punished at the initial point of contact.”
Follow Record Sport on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all of the up-to-the minute breaking news, video and audio on the SPFL, the Scotland national team and beyond.
Tune in to Hotline Live every Sunday to Thursday and have your say on the biggest issues in Scottish football and listen to Record Sport’s newest podcast, Game On, every Friday for your sporting fix, all in bitesize chunks.