The Scottish FA’s Important Match Incidents Committee admitted Hearts should have been awarded a penalty in the draw with Motherwell earlier this month. Derek McInnes was furious after Alexandros Kyzyridis went down in the area following a challenge from Tawanda Maswanhise.
Kziridis appeared to be tripped by a Motherwell forward and referee Stephen McLean was directed by Greg Aitken in the VAR room to monitor the incident. However, the referee maintained his original decision and believes the KMI team should have awarded the decisive spot-kick to a player in the middle after considering the flashpoint in the match, which ended 1-1.
The verdict read: “A majority of the panel (2-1) considered that the on-field decision of no penalty was incorrect. Two panel members felt that VAR intervention was correct, while one panel member felt that the on-field decision was correct.”
“The majority of the panel (2-1) felt that the referee should have awarded the penalty after it was sent to the monitor, and ruled that the final decision was inaccurate.”
In the same game, Steelmen star Emmanuel Longello appeared to be handling the ball inside the penalty area. However, the committee said it made the right decision not to penalize the left-back for the incident in the same match.
Celtic and Rangers were also informed that the decision to keep Alistair Johnstone on the pitch at Parkhead was the right one.
The Hoops defender found himself at the center of controversy on derby day after referee Nick Walsh showed the right-back a yellow card following a heavy challenge on Mikey Moore. Meanwhile, some experts believed that VAR should have escalated the attack to a red card.
Even Johnston admitted he was lucky to avoid a red card. However, the committee “unanimously supported” the decision to issue a warning to the Canadian athlete.
