Celtic manager Martin O'Neill has admitted that VAR will remain a problem in Scottish football unless clubs are prepared to pay for significantly more cameras, ahead of his side's Premier Sports Cup quarter-final against Rangers at Ibrox.
The opening weeks of the new season have already produced a number of high-profile refereeing controversies involving the technology, following a campaign last season in which Scottish football's VAR system drew international attention for the wrong reasons.
Camera count and cost
Most stadiums in Scotland operate with around six VAR cameras, compared with more than 30 at many grounds in the English Premier League. The gap has led critics to label the Scottish system 'Poundland VAR', citing limited camera angles, offside lines that cannot be drawn correctly, and technology that frequently malfunctions.
O'Neill said closing that gap would cost clubs around £1.5million a season. "To get this extra stuff in, they're talking about £1.5million a season, which just doesn't seem feasible," he said. "It's a shame. But it is what it is. It would be lovely if you could do it."
Meeting with referees
O'Neill revealed that all SPFL Premiership clubs and managers recently held talks with Scottish Football Association head of refereeing Willie Collum about the VAR system. He said the discussions, which also involved SFA head of VAR Martin Atkinson, were constructive. "We had a meeting with the referees. It was really fine. I think they're very open, they want to try," O'Neill said. "Willie's really trying to have a go... I think they want open discussions with us. We've all made plenty of mistakes. It was trying to clear up a couple of things from VAR."
St Mirren and Dundee United decisions
Celtic had two goals ruled out by VAR in last week's match against St Mirren, for what O'Neill described as tight and dubious calls. He acknowledged, however, that other decisions have gone in Celtic's favour, including a handball by Kasper Hogh against Dundee United at Tannadice that went unpunished.
"There's some things that they wanted to be pretty adamant about and I thought that was absolutely fine," O'Neill said. "I thought myself at Dundee United we got lucky with our second goal when the ball came into the penalty box, and Kasper slid in, and it looked like his hand was in an unnatural position. I said to them, I know it went in my favour, but had it have happened against me, I wouldn't have been widely happy about it."
Rule confusion since 2018
O'Neill said the difficulty stems from the number of variances in current handball rules, including those covering a second player touching the ball before it reaches a goalscorer. Reflecting on VAR since it was first used prominently at the 2018 World Cup, he said he had expected it to increase the number of penalties awarded, given how often players hold onto opponents, but that football was still debating the technology eight years later.
"I don't know whether it's a good thing or a bad thing," he said. "All I do know is it's very difficult to celebrate what you think is a goal for you, because you're waiting around to see if something has happened. That was always going to be the case, so VAR would have made you lose something in that aspect. But if it meant that a decision was right and somebody was clearly offside, then VAR should do its job."
Encroachment rule change
O'Neill also pointed to a change in how penalty-box encroachment is judged, referencing an incident involving a Motherwell player and Celtic's Alistair Johnston, whose run into the box during a penalty no longer constitutes an infringement unless he follows in and affects a rebound. "So those are the things we've been discussing and I think the conversation was good," he said.
Goalkeeper decision for Rangers clash
Looking ahead to the trip to Ibrox, O'Neill said he had not yet decided whether Viljami Sinisalo or Sam Johnstone would start in goal. Johnstone, on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers, made his Celtic debut in the midweek 1-0 win over St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.
"I haven't made my mind up at all. It was a matter of getting a look at what Sam can do," O'Neill said. "It's great to have the two of them. Big Viljami has done exceptionally well for us and it was just, again, an opportunity to see what Sam can do now."
O'Neill said the match would feel unusual with no away fans present, and described it as a big week for Celtic with a Europa League fixture also approaching before a further meeting with Rangers.
