Breaking News:Bobby Madden slams SFA after incident in Rangers draw v Hearts
Former FIFA referee Bobby Madden has reacted to the controversial handball decision in Rangers opening Scottish Premiership match against Hearts.
Rangers escaped a penalty when the ball deflected off the hand of Connor Barron following a Yan Dhanda corner and VAR refused to intervene.
Madden reacted to the controversial decision on his Instagram account (4 August) and aimed his frustration at the Scottish Football Association (SFA) for the confusion on the handball rule change.
He said: “UEFA have finally seen sense and ‘relaxed’ the handball criteria.
“SFA have to follow suit and apply new criteria.
“Unfortunately, that appears to be a secret and we will have to wait for their transparent press release this week to find out if this is a penalty or not.”
UEFA guidance saves Rangers as Philippe Clement gets lucky escape
Rangers had a lucky escape against Hearts. The replay shows that the ball struck Barron’s hand in the penalty area and it would have been awarded a penalty last term.
SFA head of refereeing Willie Collum has said there will be less VAR intervention regarding handball this season, with a football understanding to be applied to decisions after guidance from UEFA.
Clement’s side were poor against Hearts and their performance was a damning recognition that the squad still needs recruits before the end of the transfer window.
The Gers were the favourites going into the tie but Clement will be relieved to leave Tynecastle with a point after the handball decision went in his side’s favour.
Clement is still under immense pressure to succeed at the Ibrox (Chris Sutton, 3 August) despite penning a new long-term contract to 2028, and will need to win more than the League Cup this season if he is to see out the entirety of his new deal.
It is not the ideal start that Rangers fans would have liked for the 2024/25 campaign, but there is still plenty of football to be played and Clement needs to use the remaining time left in the transfer window to leave his side in the best possible position to challenge Celtic this season.
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