![\"Celtic](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0_Screenshot-2026-02-08-at-202007.png\")
<\/p>\nDavid Dickinson in the VAR room backed up the call from referee Ryan Lee at Celtic Park<\/p>\n
Celtic striker Tomas Cvancara goes down under pressure from Dundee’s Luke Graham<\/p>\n
Celtic have been told it was “incredible” that striker Tomas Cvancara<\/a> saw a penalty claim snubbed in the clash with Dundee.<\/p>\n 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<\/a> star would collapse with the contact continuing into the area.<\/p>\n Referee Ryan Lee awarded a free kick following the flashpoint, while David Dickinson and the VAR<\/a> 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.”<\/a><\/p>\n 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?<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n “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.”<\/p>\n 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.”<\/p>\n He also called for action from the SFA’s Head of Refereeing Willie Collum. He told Football Insider<\/a>: \u201cI do hope that Willie Collum will review this decision.<\/p>\n “Not that it can be changed, of course. It is evident from this replay that the player\u2019s foot was clearly inside the penalty area when he was pushed. I therefore believe that a penalty kick should have been awarded.<\/p>\n \u201cTo aid this process and come to this conclusion, VAR should have sent the referee to the monitor in order to review the incident.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n “However, it can only be punished if it is holding that continues inside. Pushing can only be punished at the initial point of contact.”<\/p>\n Follow Record Sport on Twitter<\/a>, Facebook<\/a> and Instagram<\/a> for all of the up-to-the minute breaking news, video and audio on the SPFL, the Scotland national team and beyond.<\/p>\n Tune in to Hotline Live<\/a> 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<\/a>, every Friday for your sporting fix, all in bitesize chunks.<\/p>\n