The handball regulation is complicated at the very best of occasions, however one issue has at all times outweighed another.
If the arm is above shoulder top, a participant is taken into account to be taking a large threat and there’s a a lot higher likelihood of being penalised.
As Nicholson came upon on Wednesday, if the VAR thinks the ball has touched his hand or arm at head top, then it’s prone to be given as a penalty.
Some will argue that the arm was in that place solely as a result of he was in a duel with Celtic’s Auston Trusty, however that might carry minimal weight.
However there may be one massive downside.
Can we make sure it did hit the arm in any respect? And if there may be doubt, how may or not it’s a transparent and apparent error for the VAR to inform the referee he ought to award a match-winning penalty?
The best way the ball flew again out of play for a throw-in needed to recommend it got here off Nicholson’s head, so the VAR should suppose it got here off his hand on the similar time too.
It simply appears exceptionally harsh to punish this with a penalty because the ball brushing the arm had no materials impact on the place the ball ended up. That was all in regards to the energy generated by the top.
The angles proven to referee John Beaton on the monitor seemed removed from conclusive, but he solely wanted 20 seconds to make his choice. The VAR, Andrew Dallas, will need to have spoken with nice certainty.
Nevertheless it leaves a bitter style at an important second within the title race.
All of the sudden, it’s tilted into Celtic’s favour because of a questionable, stoppage-time VAR intervention.
