Ian Maxwell says controversy over the camera angle used to illustrate a debated offside call involving Celtic's Jota "doesn't really matter" - because VAR got the decision correct.
The SFA chief-executive addressed reports the Premiership champions asked for clarification over a decision during their win away at Motherwell earlier this month, specifically regarding why TV viewers were not shown a clearer angle.
The live broadcast only showed a view from the other end of the pitch and a statement from Hampden later admitted cameras “did not capture an appropriate view”.
However, Maxwell maintained the most important thing is the officials made the correct call.
“That was an interesting one because nobody is actually saying Jota was offside or the decision was wrong," he said. "The angle looks strange but that doesn’t really matter because fundamentally the decision was right and that is what it is meant to do.
"There was an issue with the camera angle, it wasn’t wide enough to capture the ball and the individual, so we had to use the camera at the other end of the pitch.
"Thankfully, the Hawkeye system saw this coming and that’s why both cameras are calibrated to deal with offsides the length of the pitch, in case you get a technology failure or a human error. It just looked a bit strange, but the outcome was right, we got the right decision.”
Across the board, Maxwell is satisfied VAR is "working" as he revealed positive feedback from Premiership clubs.
The introduction of video technology into the top-flight in October has proven typically contentious, with several moments stirring up frustration among managers, players and fans.
A common gripe is the length of time required to review incidents, but Maxwell says the current response time among officials is close to the global average.
“It has worked," Maxwell insisted. "It has done what it was meant to have done, it’s improved a number of decisions. We are now spending more time talking about fewer decisions. It’s not perfect, no-one said it was going to be, but it’s working and it’s helping the referees get more decisions right which is why we brought it in.
“The feedback was good. When you present the stats to them people understand it. Obviously there has been a bit of frustration about the time it has taken. It’s a new process, nobody was entirely sure how it was going to work. If you look at the stats we are not a million miles away from the time it takes VAR globally to reach a decision. It does take time to get it right."
