THE Scottish FA have admitted the VAR camera that was in line with Filipe Jota when he was controversially flagged offside against Motherwell “did not capture an appropriate view of the incident”.
The Celtic flyer thought he had doubled the champions’ advantage early in the second-half when he sped onto a superb raking pass from Kyogo Furuhashi to race away from Stephen O’Donnell and then loft the ball over the head of the outrushing Liam Kelly.
However, Jota’s celebrations were cut short when he noticed referee Willie Collum’s standside assistant waving his flag.
New technology then confused the issue when the live broadcast cameras reviewed the situation.
KICKING UP A STINK…Filipe Jota after VAR wiped out his goal against Motherwell.
Instead of taking an angle that was in line with the play, the live feed picked up a camera that was at the OTHER end of the pitch.
The crucial VAR line was drawn to represent whether the player was offside or not, but it was far from decisive and left viewers questioning its accuracy. They also wondered why a camera that was at the correct end of the pitch wasn’t used.
Celtic are demanding answers from the Scottish football rulers, as CQN reported earlier today.
Motherwell chief executive Alan Burrows has already confirmed on social media that cameras on BOTH 18-yard lines at Fir Park were operational.
It’s believed the camera at the correct end of the pitch – operated by broadcasters QTV – was NOT focusing on the run of play and, instead, was trained on the dug-outs.
AIR WE GO…Filipe Jota chips the ball over the helpless Liam Kelly for the goal that was never was.
The SFA say they have written to the host broadcaster in light of the error.
Their statement read: “Referee Operations can confirm that during a VAR review at Motherwell v Celtic, the footage from the relevant 18-yard line camera did not capture an appropriate view of the incident.
“While the broadcast footage was only able to show a wider camera angle for viewers, Hawk-Eye technology is designed to calibrate an accurate offside decision from either of the two 18-yard line camera positions, with the subsequent VAR review determining that the Celtic player had received the ball in an offside position.
“We have provided feedback to the host broadcaster on the incident as part of our regular review of the system operation.”
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