Collum’s VAR Review confirms Celtic robbed of penalty against Hibs | OneFootball

Head of Referees Willie Collum has admitted that Celtic were wrongly denied a penalty during their recent 2-1 defeat to Hibs at Celtic Park…

Liam Scales and Jack Iredale of Hibs. Celtic v Hibernian, Scottish Premiership, Celtic Park, 22 February 2026. Photo Mark Runnacles IMAGO Shutterstock

What Collum didn’t mention – or notice – was that Celtic were also denied a corner with the referee Matthew McDermid deciding a Celtic player had headed the ball as Liam Scales was dragged to the ground.

22.02.2026 Celtic v Hibernian, Scottish Premiership. Liam Scales rages at Matthew MacDermid after being fouled at a corner but no penalty given. Kenny Ramsay IMAGO

The match swung in the second half when Celtic were reduced to ten men, with Auston Trusty dismissed after an off-the-ball clash with Jamie McGrath. Hibs capitalised late on, as Kai Andrews struck the decisive goal to seal all three points for David Gray’s side.

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A major talking point came shortly after Trusty’s red card, when Celtic appealed for a penalty following a tug by Jack Iredale on Liam Scales during a corner. Referee Matthew MacDermid waved play on, and VAR chose not to intervene.

22.02.2026 Celtic v Hibernian, Scottish Premiership. Referee Matthew MacDermid conveys his VAR decision on Auston Trusty red card. Photo Kenny Ramsay IMAGO.

The decision ultimately proved significant, as Celtic missed the chance to regain control of the match and dropped valuable points in the title race.

Collum has since reviewed the incident and admitted that the officials made the wrong call in failing to award the spot-kick.

Speaking on the recent VAR Review show, Collum said: “So, the VAR here describes the action of the holding and about proximity, about the area the ball is going into. And for us, this should be a penalty kick. This should be an on-field review for a penalty.”

“People will argue ‘does Liam Scales go down easy?’ But there’s too much holding here. There’s too much impact for us. It’s in that zone. If this happens over here (pointing further outside the area), we’re not interested, we don’t punish it as per the discussion with the clubs, the clubs agreed on that.”

“But it’s about impact here. We also have coached the VAR team here, and they use the angle behind the goal, which for me is the key angle there. That shows exactly what needs to be looked at. This shows the clear holding, the clear impact, it’s prolonged there for a bit as the player comes across. Should be a penalty kick.”

Presenter Gordon Duncan highlighted that the VAR officials initially seemed to be working towards awarding a penalty during their conversations, only to ultimately decide against taking action.

22.02.2026 Celtic v Hibernian, Scottish Premiership. Matthew MacDermid Photo Kenny Ramsay IMAGO

Collum added: “If they had gone to on-field review after what they’d said, the VAR team, it would have been an excellent example because of the clear criteria used.”

“Then when they use the other two angles, which are not good enough, they talk about ‘not enough.; And in the back of this clip as well, I’ve said it on this show as well, ‘not enough’ for us, we need to stop using that, because what does ‘not enough’ mean? We need to then use criteria.”

“So it might be ‘not enough’ because you think the player’s gone down, or the holding’s not been prolonged, or it’s not in that proximity, that area where the ball is going. But we need criteria. And we’ve told the VAR teams now, and the on-field referee, ‘not enough’ is not a good description. They need to explain why we don’t think that is a penalty.”

Collum backed the decision to issue a red card to Austin Trusty – effectively changing the way tussles are going to have to be looked at every corner in the Scottish Premiership going forward. The head of referees also confirmed that the decision not to send Alex Oxlade Chamberlain off with a straight red card last weekend against Motherwell was correct and that the yellow card issued was the right call.

Watch the latest VAR Review from Willie Collum below…

Conor Spence

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