Scotland in danger of becoming ‘backwater’

Former referee Kenny Clark has warned that Scottish football is in danger of being left in the dark ages unless they implement Video Assistant Referees (VAR).

The standard of SPFL officials has been put under the microscope following a some high-profile errors.

Hearts boss Craig Levein called for the introduction of the technology following Andrew Dallas’ controversial decision to award St Johnstone a penalty in last week’s 1-1 draw at St Johnstone.

That came just three days after Levein had been incensed by the failure of Bobby Madden’s team of officials to spot that Alfredo Morelos’ winning goal for Rangers at Tynecastle should have been ruled out for offside.

Dallas also awarded a contentious spot-kick in Celtic’s favour during their League Cup final win over Aberdeen, while relations between Rangers and Willie Collum appear to be at an all-time low.

The SPFL have previously been reluctant to employ the costly VAR system – which will be introduced in England next season – but with comparative leagues such as Belgium and Poland utilising it, Clark believes Scottish football could swiftly become a ‘backwater’.

He said: “I think we need to be very careful. A number of countries have it already, others are going to introduce it.

“Scottish football could be regarded as something of a backwater and backward in its thinking if we don’t introduce VAR.

“What’s being looked at is a comparison to other countries of a similar standing, similar size of the league, similar crowds to say if they can afford it why can’t we?

“I wasn’t sold on it at the World Cup. I still think there were times when the right decision wasn’t arrived at but the majority of decisions that went to VAR came out correct.”

Hugh Dallas, formerly Scotland’s most high-profile official and now deputy head of referees at Uefa, believes it is imperative that the SPFL joins the VAR revolution.

Dallas told the BBC: “Anything that can help the referee is important, but it won’t solve all the problems because it is only for red cards, mistaken identity, penalty area incidents, offsides.

“But it’s definitely the way ahead.”