The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) was introduced into Scottish football at the weekend (21-22 October) and Rangers have already benefitted from it.
During their 1-1 draw at home to Livingston on Saturday (22 October), Livi defender Morgan Boyes flew into a tackle with Alfredo Morelos and caught him on the shin.
The referee initially gave a yellow card but after reviewing the incident on the pitchside screen, he opted to overturn that decision and former FIFA official Dermot Gallagher agreed with the verdict on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch.
“I thought it was a yellow card,” Gallagher said. “But when you see it again, I fully agree with the VAR. The referee has thought yellow card but when he goes to the screen, VAR has picked up what I didn’t see.
“That’s the amazing thing about VAR because the on-field decision was a yellow card, my decision in real time was a yellow card but seeing that, VAR has done him a massive favour. It’s definitely a red card.”
Beneficial
VAR will always have its critics for as long as it is in use but there is no escaping from the fact that fewer big errors are made by the entire officiating team with it in charge.
The contentious decision will always remain debated with some thinking one outcome and others another but when it comes to something like this that was clearly a red card on second viewing, it really does work.
It’s unfair to assume that referees and linespeople are able to make the perfect decision every single time just as a player can’t make the perfect pass 100 per cent of the time so this technology is needed for that.
In an ideal world, VAR is not needed because the referees don’t make big mistakes but there is no such thing as an ideal world so it has to be used.
The weekend’s fixtures were a successful start to proceedings and Rangers will hope to keep benefitting from such decisions for the rest of the campaign and beyond.
In other Rangers news, Chris Sutton and Ally McCoist were embroiled in a debate over Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s position at Ibrox.
This article was originally posted here