Rangers handball should have been punished with penalty, Scottish FA confirm

Livingston chairman Calvin Ford has revealed that the Scottish FA has admitted a mistake was made in not awarding his side a penalty against Rangers.

The sides met at Ibrox in the Premiership on Saturday, and after going behind to Emmanuel Fernandez’s headed goal, Livingston had equalised through Tete Yengi.

Soon after the equaliser, Yengi had a shot on goal blocked by Fernande,z and the away side appealed for a penalty after the ball struck the Rangers defender’s hand.

VAR John Beaton reviewed the incident but did not invite match referee Ross Hardie to go to the pitchside monitor, and play was carried on. Rangers then scored a late winner through Mohamed Diomande to take all three points and leave Livingston manager David Martindale furious with the decision-makers.

The club have now revealed that talks with the governing body have led to them being told that Hardie and Beaton made mistakes in not punishing the handball offence with a penalty.

Chairman Ford wrote an open letter to supporters telling them the club understood fan anger, but urged them to put it aside.

He wrote: “I wanted to express how frustrated I am, like all of you, on the well-documented handball decision that we weren’t awarded a penalty for at Ibrox on Saturday.

“It was a huge moment in the match, particularly having just levelled things moments before, and we firmly believe we should have been awarded a penalty and with it, a very good chance to take the lead.

“We held lengthy conversations with the SFA this week, and the incident has officially been recognised as a mistake. We should have received a penalty.

“While the easy road would be to dwell in the anger and frustration, we must now put this behind us and move forward. Believe me, this is a challenge for me as well. But how we react to the incident on Sunday – fully supporting our team against Aberdeen – is far more significant to the health and success of this club.

“I want to thank our players, our staff, and our incredible supporters – especially those who made the trip to Glasgow on Saturday – for their unwavering support of the club. Please know that I will always work to support and defend this Livingston FC community, and am confident and optimistic for an incredibly bright future ahead, despite setbacks such as what happened on Saturday.

“We will persevere. We will succeed.

“We greatly appreciate our supporters and your backing week-on-week, and look forward to seeing you all here again on Sunday. Let’s turn our anger into incredible roaring support for our team this weekend.”

Speaking at Ibrox after the match, Martindale had predicted an apology but said that something had to be done about repeated errors in the top flight despite the expensive VAR system being introduced in 2022.

“I can’t believe that’s not a penalty,” he said. “I can’t believe we don’t… well, part of me, I can believe we don’t get it, but it’s a stonewall penalty.

“I can’t keep going on like this. I don’t understand why it’s not a penalty, and I’m not the only manager.

“This will happen to Danny, no doubt, at some point. It happens to everyone.

“There’s some manager every week sitting moaning about VAR and blatant decisions. Then you get an apology.

“Apologies are not going to help me on Monday morning. Apologies are not going to help my group. Apologies are not going to give me a point to try and get us up the table. Apologies are not going to give me three points.

“I don’t think they understand what’s actually at stake and how much this means to managers and clubs. It’s just flippant. ‘I’ve got it wrong, sorry’.

“Move on to next week, there are another three decisions that are wrong.

“I just don’t think we can keep going down this road. Something needs to change, and it needs to change very, very quickly.”

The defeat leaves Livingston at the bottom of the Premiership table, one point behind Dundee.