Dundee United are to appeal Tony Watt ’s VAR red card.
The United hierarchy have decided to challenge the sending off for his first half tackle on Sean Goss in their 1-0 defeat to Motherwell at Tannadice. Referee John Beaton didn’t even give a foul in the game but was then asked to go to the pitch-side monitor by the match VAR chief David Munro.
Beaton was shown footage before he returned to the pitch he decided to show Watt a straight red card. There are limited camera angles in VAR in Scotland and footage from other sources has now cast doubt on whether the challenge was actually worthy of an ordering off. Dundee United boss Liam Fox said after the game that the angle the referee saw he could understand why it was a red card but the club’s own footage shows minimal contact on Goss.
Fox, speaking post-match, said: “From the footage the referee has seen I would probably agree it looks like a red card. But I have also seen other footage that casts a fair amount of doubt on it.
“It was a different angle and I see Tony Watt is pulling his leg back and there is very, very little contact with the player. Having seen the footage that the referee and the VAR has seen I could probably say, yes, it is a red card. But I have also seen other footage from different sources that maybe cast a wee bit of doubt over it so it is a bit of a contentious issue."
United are likely to learn the fate of their appeal later this week before they face champions Celtic this weekend.
