Dermot Gallagher Questions VAR’s Intervention in Dessers’ Chopped Off Goal

Debate is still sparked by the controversy surrounding VAR’s use in the Rangers vs. Celtics game at Ibrox.

During the game, VAR involvement caused referee John Beaton to review a previous foul on Celtic’s Tomoki Iwata, leading to the disallowance of a goal by Rangers’ Cyriel Dessers.

Beaton originally failed to notice that Iwata had been obviously fouled in real time, which is when the incident started.

Rangers took advantage of this error and scored what they believed to be an equalizing goal. The party was short-lived, though, as Beaton was directed to the monitor for an important review by VAR.

During his interview on Sky Sports, former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher offered his opinion on the choice. Although he admitted that Iwata had fouled, he questioned if VAR’s intervention was really needed considering how far the play went before the goal was scored. Gallagher made the argument that Celtic had plenty of time to reorganize defensively, which makes it more difficult to decide whether to count the foul as having occurred during the direct sequence leading up to the goal.

According to Gallagher, “They go a long way.” I realize Celtic don’t receive the ball back, but they have plenty of time to regroup. Nevertheless, the referee looks at the screen and declares a foul. Without a doubt, a foul has been committed; the question is whether it occurred during the attacking phase or during the quick build-up. For the third time throughout the game, John Beaton was sent to the screen by the VAR because they felt it was.

“I won’t argue that it’s just re-refereeing; it’s not a foul.”

Rangers would not have been able to mount a successful counterattack if Iwata hadn’t been fouled. As such, it had an immediate effect on the attacking phase of the game.

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