SFA confess Jack Butland's Rangers own goal against Motherwell SHOULD have stood
The SFA's KMI Panel have determined Jack Butland's own goal in Rangers' 2-2 draw with Motherwell on Sunday should have been allowed to stand.
Philippe Clement's men had got themselves back into the game through Hamza Igamane’s strike after Apostolos Stamatelopoulos and Tawanda Maswanhise had given the Steelmen a 2-0 advantage in the first half. Stuart Kettlewell's team looked to have bagged a third goal with the score at 2-1 when Butland inadvertently punched the ball into his own net from former Ger Andy Halliday's inswinging corner – only for referee Kevin Clancy to immediately blow for a foul on the former England stopper by forward Tony Watt. Rangers then went on to complete the two-goal fight back, with Igamane scoring again to claim a share of the spoils at Fir Park.
However, in their weekly review, a majority of three of the five KMI panel believe that the on-field decision was incorrect and that VAR should have been called upon to recommend to Clancy that the goal be allowed to stand. Their verdict read: "The panel discussed this decision at length with the majority (3:2) deeming the onfield decision incorrect.
"The majority (3:2) believed that VAR should have intervened and recommended an OFR for the goal to be awarded. Two members of the panel highlighted that they didn't think it was clear and obvious enough for VAR to get involved and the on-field decision should be supported."
Elsewhere in the Premiership, four of the five panel members argued that Hearts should have been awarded a penalty in their 2-2 draw with Ross County in Dingwall. With the Jambos two goals to the good courtesy of a double from teenage striker James Wilson, full back James Penrice went down in the area under a challenge from Staggies defender Michee Efete.
On-field whistler Ross Hardie initially pointed to the spot but following a VAR delay, reversed his decision by deeming that the foul had occurred outside of the box. The Staggies went on to snatch a dramatic point right at the death with Joshua Nisbet and Jordan White both on target in injury time.
And while the KMI panel acknowledged that the initial foul by Efete had taken place outside the area, a overwhelming majority believed that Hardie's initial decision should have stood because the foul had continued into the Ross County penalty box. Their statement read: "The panel discussed this decision at length. The majority (4:1) agreed with the initial on field decision.
"The four panellist agreed an initial foul had occurred outside of the penalty area, however they believed there was a further foul committed inside the penalty area and the original decision should have stood. One panel member agreed with the VAR intervention as the initial foul was outside the penalty area and in their opinion nothing punishable took place after this."
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