The SFA have released the full clip revealing the conversation between ref Steven McLean and John Beaton on VAR
Pierre Landry Kabore appeals after a foul by Auston Trusty(Image: PA)
The SFA have released the referee and VAR communication audio from Auston Trusty‘s controversial red card against Hearts – revealing exactly why the initial booking was upgraded.
And head of refereeing Willie Collum has backed his officials, insisting the right decision was made in the end.
Trusty was sent off late in last month’s chaotic 2-2 draw at Tynecastle. Celtic led 2-1 at the time but after Trusty was originally shown a yellow card for bringing down Pierre Landry Kabore, referee Steven McLean was called over to the monitor by John Beaton – and soon upgraded it to a sending-off.
The explanation given was that Trusty had denied an obvious goalscoring opportunity, and the audio between ref McLean, VAR Beaton and assistant VAR Duncan Nicolson – released via the Scottish Football VAR Review Show on Sky Sports – has revealed exactly how the call was reached.
Here’s the transcript below.
Steven McLean: “On-field decision is yellow card, I didn’t think he had control of the ball.”
John Beaton: “OK Stevie, we’re checking on-field decision of yellow card. Tell me what you see here Duncan.”
Duncan Nicolson: “What I’ve got is a ball coming through, it’s on the ground so there’s a possibility to control the ball. The ball is going wide, but still in the general direction of goal. I’ve got a defender that’s level…”
Beaton: “That defender’s not getting back… at the point of contact, we need to make an assessment that he is going to get this ball, and he’s going to get a clear, unobstructed opportunity to score the goal. The ball’s not rolling quickly enough…”
Nicolson: “No, he’s going to gain possession of the ball.”
Beaton: “So in my opinion here, based on this, I think there’s a reasonable expectation that the attacker’s going to take possession of this ball, there’s no defender that can get back to stop him. Based on where the ball goes and where he is, I think that’s an obvious goalscoring opportunity. Would you agree?”
Referee McLean is then called over to the monitor before the following exchange.
Beaton: “This is where the assessment has been made. There’s no other defender there, it’s in a fairly central position, and that’s the distance from the ball.”
McLean: “He would be in control of the ball. He would gain possession and have an opportunity to score a goal. Okay, red card.”
The call sparked huge controversy at the time with many pundits feeling McLean’s initial call was fair enough and didn’t require an intervention. But ref chief Collum, speaking on the same show, believes the eventual decision was the right one – although can understand McLean’s initial call.
Reviewing the footage, Collum said: “When you look here and you pause in the point of contact, that’s a crucial thing for us. You can see here, the Celtic defender is too far away.
“He won’t have any impact on this opportunity for the Hearts player to play the ball and be in goal.
Willie Collum on the Scottish Football VAR Review Show(Image: Sky Sports)
“So for us, this is a clear and obvious error on field. It’s an understandable error on field, but the VAR team are fully correct here to intervene.
“We understand why the decision is given on field. It’s a long ball, the referee’s caught in his toes a bit here.
“It’s hard probably to get a full understanding of that, the whole situation, but this is a key camera for us.
“If you look at the main camera, it can be difficult to make that judgement, particularly when you judge how far away the covering defenders are.”