Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher has criticised VAR for being "too microscopic" in a decision that saw Ryan Finnigan booked for diving in Dundee's derby win over Dundee United.
The controversial moment occurred just before half-time at Tannadice, when United's Abdoulaye Yoro was initially penalised for a challenge on Finnigan at the edge of the box.
🤔 "The VAR has tried to be too microscopic..." Ref Watch takes a look at the Dundee derby and the decision to reverse Yoro's yellow card and book Ryan Finnigan instead ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/VocJKHx8l2
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) August 24, 2026
However, after referee David Dickinson was sent to the monitor by VAR official John Beaton, Yoro's yellow card was overturned, and Finnigan was booked instead. Gallagher said on Sky Sports' Ref Watch: "My face was a bit like Finnigan’s when I saw it.
"It’s not a foul, but that happens. Referees make mistakes on the field of play. The player’s got the ball, and the referee thinks he’s got his ankle, which he hasn’t. Finnigan then loses his balance and treads on the ball. That’s why he goes over.
"So we’ve got a situation where it’s not a yellow card to Yoro, but it’s certainly not a yellow card to Finnigan."
Gallagher said the VAR intervention left Dickinson with little choice after being instructed to review the incident. He added: "By sending him to the screen, the VAR has said Yoro’s got the ball and Finnigan has dived, which he hasn’t.
"He’s gone over to the screen hamstrung because the VAR has said to him ‘it’s not a yellow card’. The only way he’s got the right to do it is to say it’s because the other guy has dived."
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The decision also baffled former striker Jay Bothroyd, who said Finnigan had simply lost control of the ball. He said: "I don’t even know what the referee is thinking to think that he’s dived.
"All that’s happened is he’s tried to control the ball and slipped on it. How has that been a dive?"
Gallagher said the VAR should not have intervened over the incorrect yellow card decision, and agreed with Mr Bothroyd that a drop-ball would have been the "common-sense solution".
He said: "You go to the screen, you say sorry to the player who got the yellow card, you tell Finnigan you get it, and he didn’t dive. You drop the ball."
