Bobby Madden highlights a crucial unresolved matter in the Rangers handball controversy with the SFA, asserting that the Ibrox club has legitimate grounds for feeling aggrieved following what he perceives as an ‘error’.

Rangers find themselves in a standoff with the SFA over the non-award of a penalty for handball against Alistair Johnston during the December 30 derby with Celtic. Referee Nick Walsh did not signal for a penalty, and VAR official Willie Collum did not intervene either. Subsequently, an image surfaced depicting Abdallah Sima in an offside position in the build-up to the incident. However, this development did not appease Rangers, who held discussions with the SFA to review the audio from the contentious moment. According to Rangers, the offside was not discussed in the VAR room, and they assert that a consensus was reached that an error was made in not awarding them a penalty. The governing body vehemently refutes their account, prompting Rangers to request that Collum be excluded from their future matches.

Former SFA referee Madden expresses understanding for Walsh’s on-field oversight but contends that the unresolved issue lies with the offside image, which, he believes, was released by the VAR overseer on the day, fueling the prevailing frustration. Madden deems it a mistake to present the offside image as a defense.

In a tweet, Madden asserts, “What did people expect? Referee missed call on field, understandable in my opinion. VAR didn’t think it was a penalty and didn’t check APP (attacking phase of play). Mistakes happen regarding subjective decisions. Releasing the offside image some time later is the outstanding issue. The person overseeing VAR would have shared the offside image, probably thinking it was a good idea to show that the penalty couldn’t be awarded either way. I’d say that was an error on their part.”