Release audio from Scotland vs Hungary penalty controversy, Uefa urged

THE Alba Party are calling on Uefa to release the audio recordings between match officials which led to the controversial decision not to award Scotland a penalty during their clash with Hungary.

On Sunday night Scotland were defeated by Hungary 1-0 in their final group match of the Euros, putting an end to the country’s run in the competition.

However, before the 100th minute goal by Kevin Csoboth, Scotland midfielder Stuart Armstrong appeared to be brought down inside the box by Hungarian defender Willi Orban.

Argentinian referee Facundo Tello decided not to give a penalty and the VAR official appeared not to encourage Tello to consider a replay of the tackle which thwarted Armstrong’s run on goal.

During a press conference after the match Scotland manager Steve Clarke said it was “100 per cent a penalty” and asked “what’s the point in VAR if they’re not going to come in on something like that?”.

(Image: Andrew Milligan)

Now, the Alba Party have called on Uefa to release the audio recordings between match officials and the VAR referee.

The party’s general secretary Chris McEleny was at the game in Stuttgart and urged Uefa to release the tapes in the interests of transparency.

“This was a match of huge importance to millions back home and tens if not hundreds of thousands of travelling Tartan Army supporters,” he said.

“Scotland might not have put in the performance we are capable of but we would’ve been in the driving seat towards the knockout stages if we had been awarded the penalty.

“Everyone in the ground thought it was a penalty.

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“Everyone watching at home in Scotland thought it was a penalty and 70% of people across the UK polled thought it was a penalty.

“In the interest of transparency, Uefa should release the conversations between the officials to reassure football fans across Scotland, and Europe, to explain why the only two people that thought Scotland should not have been awarded a penalty were the match referee and the VAR referee.

“If a mistake has been made, it is right for Uefa and the match officials to own up to it not simply hope that they get off Scot free.”

It comes after former Premier League referee Mark Halsey told Online Poker that he felt Scotland should have been awarded a penalty.

“I think Steve Clarke is right to want answers from Uefa and the Uefa chief referee officer Roberto Rosetti on the decision not to award Scotland a penalty,” he said.

“When the incident happened and Stuart Armstrong went through, I thought it was a penalty straight away.

“The reason why it was a penalty was because Armstrong was just in front of the defender, and when you get an attacking player in front of a defensive player chasing back, there’s going to be contact, and 99.9 per cent of the time it’s always going to be a foul.

“I’ve seen people say Armstrong had hold of the defender’s shirt but the only time he did that was when he was fouled and already going down.

“You can clearly see the defender’s knee goes into the back of Armstrong.

“For me it was a clear penalty and a clear and obvious error from the referee.

“Yes, things happened so fast – but that’s why we’ve got VAR, so I was surprised VAR didn’t recommend a review.

“I’ve watched referee Facundo Tello a few times, he’s a good referee but I’m sure when he reviews his performance he will be disappointed that he didn’t award a penalty, and I thought he was too trigger-happy with his whistle last night.”