The Dons ran out 1-0 winners thanks to Leighton Clarkson’s strike at Fir Park, but the Steelmen were left fuming after two big calls went against them including a disallowed goal and a penalty shout.
After their 1-0 loss to Aberdeen on Saturday, enraged Motherwell officials delivered a video package and released a strongly worded statement requesting justice from the SFA.
The two incidences in the Steelmen’s loss to Peter Leven’s team have prompted them to voice their concerns about handballs and the way match officials are using VAR.
The Fir Park team were displeased with Lennon Miller’s goal that was disallowed due to a Theo Bair handball in the build-up, as detailed in a long message on their club website.
Stuart Kettlewell was enraged by the event and acknowledged he was ‘bore up’ with inconsistent handball judgements; the club even went so far as to describe the IFAB law on the sport in their statement.
In an effort to support supporters who have been disenchanted with VAR’s interventions and how they have affected spectators at games, Motherwell has now voiced their concerns in a film that has been uploaded to Hampden.
They claim that the ‘Well faithful’ have only had negative feedback and are looking for answers for the numerous worries they have had all season.
“The club has written and submitted a video package to the SFA in response to the occurrences at our encounter against Aberdeen on Saturday, asking for an explanation of the regulation involving handball incidents in the action leading up to a goal being scored.
“Eamonn Brophy scored the first goal in a game at Fir Park on October 28, 2023, against Motherwell. Victor Loturi handled the ball in the build-up to the goal before passing it to Brophy, who scored. The Fourth Official advised us after the game that the goal stood since Loturi did not score it and the handball was not intentional.
A handball that accidentally results in a teammate scoring a goal or having a goal-scoring opportunity will no longer be considered an infraction, according to an IFAB rule.
“We thought Lennon Miller’s goal in our match against Aberdeen on Saturday would have tied the game. Referee Willie Collum made the on-field decision to award the goal, but Steven McLean’s extensive VAR check led to an advice for the referee to go to the VAR monitor.
“Theo Bair’s handball in the build-up resulted in the on-field decision being overturned after the goal was reviewed. We were informed that this was a purposeful handball since Theo’s hand was high and outstretched, and as a result, the goal was disqualified.
This was not the case in the Ross County game, as the player’s arm was struck by the ball, making the handball judged non-penalisable. This is true even when the handball occurs when the player’s hand is raised high above their head, altering the path the ball takes.
“Although we acknowledge that all judgements, especially those pertaining to handball, are subjective, we find it hard to believe that Theo’s handball was intentional given that the ball barely touched his shoulder as he attempted to head it. When the goal was scored, it also had no bearing on what happened next in the game.
“At a large cost to each club, we also don’t think this occurrence fulfils the “clear and obvious” error level that all clubs agreed to when VAR was established.
The decision not to award a penalty kick when the ball appeared to strike Graeme Shinnie’s arm in the penalty area towards the end of the game further disappointed us. We were told that even though the defender had his arm extended, the ball could not be considered deliberate because it had bounced off another player before it hit the target.
“We are well aware that there will never be a unanimous agreement and that judgements taken during games will always be subject to interpretation. However, we are concerned about the fact that various people are interpreting the rules in different ways—even within the same game—that decision-making is highly inconsistent, and that it seems like the threshold for VAR intervention is shifting. Another problem is that nobody in the stadium knows why the goal was disqualified.
“We have participated in the ongoing comprehensive evaluation of VAR, as we are aware from the latest SFA release and our conversations with SPFL officials. Some of these decisions could have a lot of different outcomes, but our main concern is that the inconsistent decision-making, frequent, protracted VAR interventions during most games, and lack of transparency regarding the reasoning behind the decisions are seriously affecting the fans’ enjoyment of the game.
“Almost all of the criticism we get from our own fans regarding VAR is unfavourable, and we think that most of them would vote to stop using it if they could. It’s very difficult to locate someone who watches or plays football who is content with their existing role.
“We look forward to the output from the review and how the required improvements will be implemented.”
