Chief SFA referee Willie Collum ‘in frame’ for Rangers vs. Celtic championship match as whistler.

Crawford Allan, the head of SFA referees, has disclosed that Willie Collum might be inserted in the middle of an Old Firm championship match.

Chiefs from Rangers criticized the referee’s decisions during Celtic’s 2-1 derby victory in December, saying the VAR erred in not penalizing Alistair Johnston for a handball, even though Abdallah Sima was offside in any case. The Ibrox club also requested that Collum not officiate any further Gers games from the SFA, a request that Hampden management promptly rejected.

Crawford Allan, the head of SFA referees, has disclosed that Willie Collum might be inserted in the middle of an Old Firm championship match.

Chiefs from Rangers criticized the referee’s decisions during Celtic’s 2-1 derby victory in December, saying the VAR erred in not penalizing Alistair Johnston for a handball, even though Abdallah Sima was offside in any case. The Ibrox club also requested that Collum not officiate any further Gers games from the SFA, a request that Hampden management promptly rejected.

“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,” Allan responded when asked if Collum might be the man in the middle for one of the two final Glasgow derbies of the season. When the time gets closer, we’ll decide on that.

“A club will never have any say in who gets appointed as a referee in Scotland. Without a doubt, the Scottish FA will select referees based on their qualifications, professionalism, and experience.

“We vehemently disagree with any request from a club to exclude a referee from consideration for club positions. A tier five club recently made a similar request to me, claiming that the referee failed to call their games.

“I believe they might have been following a trend. Last week, I read with interest that William had the support of the Rangers management, and I am grateful for that. It was the correct thing to do and was favorably accepted.”

Allan acknowledged that Collum made a mistake by not fully reviewing the attacking phase of play (APP) before to instructing referee Nick Walsh to restart the game, though, in light of the Johnston penalty issue. Collum had determined that, as the offside would have been called anyhow, Johnston’s handball was a natural motion and did not merit a pitchside review.

He declared: “APP ought to have been examined, and the hand crossing the ball was sufficient to warrant further investigation into the remainder of the APP. I’ve also mentioned that to the club in private. William didn’t make a factual process error, therefore it’s difficult to argue he erred.

“He is entitled to the fact that it was a subjective decision he made. Would I have preferred it if an APP had been used to evaluate the handball? Indeed. Nevertheless, I won’t claim that William violated any procedural laws.”

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