The 5 Celtic and Rangers decisions VAR got wrong as Ibrox club warned after stormy ref request

Scotland's head of referees Crawford Allan says Willie Collum will be in contention to take charge of Celtic vs Rangers matches as he addressed another VAR storm.

The list of incorrect calls by the refereeing tech has jumped from three to 13 since the last round of Premiership fixtures. Five of those involved Celtic and Rangers, one of which was when Collum dismissed a possible penalty kick as a VAR official in December's Old Firm, after slow motion replays showed Alistair Johnston had handled the ball inside Celtic ’s box.

After Collum’s intervention, graphics proved the award would not have stood in any case as Abdallah Sima had strayed offside. But the Ibrox club were still furious and requested he be kept away from officiating Rangers matches in future.

Asked about whether Collum could be thrown into a Celtic vs Rangers game again, Crawford didn't rule it out. He also insisted no club will have influence on what referee goes where.

He said: "Willie will be in the frame with every other referee for consideration for games, whether they be in the league, in the cup or whatever. We’ll make that decision nearer the time.

 “At no point will a club influence a decision of a referee appointment in Scotland. I can categorically state that the Scottish FA will appoint referees to the best of that person’s experience, ability and professionalism.

"We will be appointing referees as their experience and profile is appropriate for. We totally reject any request from any club that a referee would not be considered for their club appointments.

"We don’t want to make any massive headlines from one referee. It doesn’t matter if it’s one person’s name out there, it affects all the referees. We have to protect them all.

“I have had a similar request from a club in tier 5 recently, asking that a referee didn’t do their games. I think they were potentially jumping on a bandwagon.”

The incorrect VAR decisions involving Celtic and Rangers

1. VAR should have recommended an on-field review after Rangers' Ross McCausland was awarded a penalty. Decision should then been no penalty (Livingston v Rangers, 12 Nov).

2. VAR should not have recommended an on-field review for a penalty after a foul on Rangers' Abdallah Sima. On-field decision of no penalty should have stood. (Rangers v Dundee, 9 Dec).

3. VAR should not have recommended an on-field review after Rangers' Jose Cifuentes was awarded a yellow card. On-field decision of yellow card should have stood. (Rangers v Dundee, 9 Dec).

4. VAR should have recommended an on-field penalty review for a handball offence by Celtic's Alastair Johnston. Panel noted an offside in the build-up so decision should have remained to not award penalty. (Celtic v Rangers, 30 Dec).

5. VAR should not have recommended an on-field review for a penalty for a handball offence against Rangers' John Souttar. On-field decision to not award a penalty should have stood. (Rangers v Kilmarnock, 2 Jan).