Putting Celtic’s midweek defeat to Motherwell to one side, attention has turned back to the controversial penalty the Hoops were awarded against Livingston — and the SFA’s Key Match Incident (KMI) Panel has now delivered its final ruling.
Celtic ran out 4–2 winners at the Set Fare Arena after falling behind twice inside the opening 10 minutes. Goals from Benjamin Nygren, Hyunjun Yang and Arne Engels secured Wilfried Nancy’s second victory as Celtic manager, though the match was once again overshadowed by VAR debate.
The penalty decision in Celtic’s favour infuriated Livingston boss David Martindale, who was adamant the spot-kick should never have been given. However, the SFA KMI Panel has since reviewed the incident — and its conclusion will do little to ease Martindale’s frustration.
As part of their weekly review of contentious refereeing and VAR calls, the panel assessed the decision and ultimately backed the officials. They classified the incident as a difficult, highly subjective call, rating it four out of five for complexity.
While the panel ruled that the original on-field decision of no handball was incorrect, they agreed that VAR was right to intervene. By a 2–1 majority, the panel concluded that the referee correctly awarded a penalty following an on-field review. One panel member dissented, believing VAR should not have stepped in and that the penalty was wrongly given.
Martindale made his displeasure abundantly clear after the match, repeatedly questioning the intervention of VAR. He argued that the decision had a significant impact on the game and felt the contest could have been far closer without it.
The Livingston manager did, however, acknowledge positives in his side’s performance, praising their attacking threat and the quality of their goals. He also pointed to missed opportunities and defensive lapses at set-pieces as key factors in the defeat, but remained particularly disappointed by what he described as a “soft” penalty and Nygren’s goal at the back post.
In the end, despite Martindale’s protests, the SFA’s review has confirmed that officials were right — bringing the debate to a definitive close.
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