Ref chief backs yellow card for Trusty against Rangers

"Collum told the Scottish Football VAR Review: "We can support the yellow card here, but it is also important to say there is a subjective element to this decision and we fully respect people's opinion if they think that's a red card." He admitted that "15 years ago, this is a red" card but pointed out that the incident was viewed as "violent conduct" rather than "serious foul play" under current rules."

""The goalkeeper is in possession of the ball when the contact is made, so we don't regard this as a challenge for the ball," Collum explained. Walsh and the video assistant referee (VAR) team then had to decide "whether excessive force" was used. "The referee comes to the conclusion there's not enough force, it is not brutality for him and the contact is negligible," Collum said."

""You immediately hear him say reckless yellow and then he's in a long conversation with the captain of Rangers, but at that point he is also communicating with the VAR and he talks about the level of force," Collum added. "He also talks about the studs and, for him, there's no use of the studs here. The VAR look at the images and they don't see anything either that tells them anything other than that.""

Willie Collum, head of referees at the Scottish FA, supported the yellow card given to Auston Trusty for his challenge on goalkeeper Jack Butland while acknowledging subjectivity. Rangers wrote to the SFA requesting an explanation after the Premier Sports Cup semi-final. An independent key match incident panel majority concluded Trusty should have been sent off. Collum said the incident was classified as violent conduct rather than serious foul play because the goalkeeper had possession, so it was not a challenge for the ball. Referee Nick Walsh and the VAR judged the contact lacked excessive force and deemed it negligible.

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