Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi was denied a penalty despite huge appeals as he went down in the box against Kilmarnock.
The Japanese forward latched onto a smart lofted ball from Matt O'Riley - from a free-kick - before colliding with Robby McCrorie.
Kyogo had controlled the ball before McCrorie connected with the striker to leave him in a heap in the box. It did not appear McCrorie touched the ball before bumping into the forward.
However, no penalty was awarded, in the eventual 4-0 win, by referee Don Robertson and no VAR review was advised.
🗣️ "I'm absolutely speechless!" Should Celtic have had a penalty here? The VAR did not feel an intervention was needed ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/Rjj3xwpL5v
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) August 4, 2024
There had been suggestion of a possible offside on Kyogo in the build-up but former referee Bobby Madden has explained a screenshot of the offside would have been shown if that was the reason for no spot-kick being awarded.
It suggests the simple reason for no penalty was the referee and VAR official agreeing there was no basis for a foul and spot-kick being awarded.
Explaining the VAR protocol on the decision, Madden wrote on Instagram: "For the avoidance of doubt, if VAR thought this was a foul there would be an on field review.
"If it was offside the image would be shown and play would be restarted with the offside."
He then quipped: "You never know, we may be shown a still of the offside in 30 minutes."
Read more:
-
Schmeichel admits Celtic welcome for Killie game exceeded expectations
-
Brendan Rodgers discusses Matt O'Riley's immediate Celtic future
Bemused pundit Chris Sutton said on Sky Sports: "That's ridiculous. I am baffled and absolutely speechless. If he's onside that should be a penalty.
"How has the penalty not been awarded there? McCrorie knows he didn't get the contact."
On the incident, Brendan Rodgers added: “I thought it should have been a penalty.
“I think if you watch it again, he's onside. It's a clever movement. Gavin [Strachan] has gone through that with the guys the last couple of days in terms of looking at inventive ways to be creative.
“So, he's absolutely perfect, he plays onside. He plays it perfectly, makes his run, times it well. He has a touch past the keeper and the keeper clatters him.
“You can't say he's not going to get it because the Kilmarnock guy was behind him. He actually got to the ball. So you can never say he wasn't going to get it. So, it should have been a penalty. I didn't think he was overly hurt, I just thought it was a penalty.
