Saints boss Stephen Robinson wants to see a more common sense approach applied to stop VAR handball decisions “spoiling” Scottish football.
The number of penalties being dished out in the Premiership has skyrocketed since the introduction of the video technology in October, with a large proportion of those given for handball offences.
St Mirren have been hit hard from the spot this season already having given away eight penalties – half of which were for handballs.
Robinson believes the referees implementing the rules have an “impossible” job because their hands are tied behind their backs by the letter of the law.
But the Buddies manager hopes a Zoom call he and other Premiership bosses had with the SFA’s head of refereeing operations Crawford Allan and SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell earlier this week will lead to a change in the rules to allow refs to have more ownership over the handball rule.
Robinson explained: “I was on a VAR call on Tuesday with all the referees, Ian Maxwell and Crawford Allan.
“It was interesting. There were a few managers giving views and they were giving us their views on VAR.
“I won’t name any names, but myself and two other managers asked about the handball rule. For me, it is absolutely ridiculous and that’s not down to the referees, who are merely applying the laws as they stand.
“What we want is for common sense to be applied within those laws, but the referees aren’t allowed to do that because they have to follow it to the letter.
“One point was made about a player who wasn’t even looking at the ball and an opponent headed it against him and a penalty was awarded, even though the header hadn’t been on target. The referees are in agreement with us and they accept it is causing so many problems.
“You saw the penalty for Portugal against Uruguay at the World Cup this week, similar to the one Declan Gallagher conceded for us against Aberdeen, when he was also sent off, where the player had his hand on the ground, just balancing himself and the ball hits him.
“What can you do in that situation? Where else can you put your hand?
“There needs to be a common sense approach and, until referees are allowed to apply that, there are going to be numerous penalties awarded for the unluckiest of handballs.
“It’s not a dictatorship, it’s very open. Hopefully, they will listen to what we said because they were in agreement with it and it’s causing huge problems everywhere.
“Ifab (the International Football Association Board which is responsible for introducing new laws) talk about unnatural positions, but an unnatural position for me is when the ball is hurtling towards your face and you have your hands behind your back.
“It’s a very difficult issue but I believe it’s spoiling the game and it’s also making referees’ lives impossible.
“They’re doing their jobs to the best of their ability and getting help [from VAR], but they have to go with VAR’s decisions and do what they’re told.”
While Robinson has been left baffled by some decisions VAR has made since making its debut in Scotland, he did welcome the clarity given by referees on the Zoom call on Tuesday.
He believes everyone wants the system to be as slick and as accurate as possible, something he hopes to see rapidly improve when the Premiership returns to action later this month.
He said: “We had a few things explained to us about decisions. I had a little bit of a gripe about the handball in the lead-up to the St Johnstone penalty in the 2-2 draw three weeks ago.
“They explained the reasons and why it wasn’t passed to the referee. That’s all good because it educates you as well. And it helps you maybe not get as annoyed when you understand it a bit more.
“They are trying to bridge that gap by speaking about the handball rule. It does give a bit more clarity.
“It doesn’t make it any easier for the refs, it doesn’t make it any easier for the managers either. But at least there’s a little bit more clarity and people are trying to make things work.
“The vast majority of the decisions they make are right. But the ones that are wrong, they acknowledge that.
“The reasons why the decisions were made are sometimes interesting, because I’m still getting to understand why decisions are made and why it’s not being referred back.
“The main thing is everyone is doing their job to the best of their ability and everyone is trying to improve it. That’s all you can ask.”
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