Penrice Gets Away With Embarrassing Dive — VAR and Scottish Refereeing Under the Spotlight Again

Scottish football has produced another refereeing controversy, and this time James Penrice is at the centre of it… unsurprisingly a penalty for Ra***rs

The Ra***rs defender “won” a penalty against St Mirren after going to ground in an incident that will leave plenty of Celtic supporters questioning how the decision was reached.

Let’s be honest, it was an embarrassing attempt to win a penalty. Yet somehow, it was enough to convince the officials… unsurprisingly.

The bigger issue is that VAR was there to review the incident, and the penalty still stood.

What exactly are we using VAR for if incidents like this are not being properly scrutinised?

We see marginal offsides reviewed down to the millimetre, yet when it comes to potential simulation, the standard of intervention seems completely different.

Players know that going to ground can win them a decision. If there is no consequence for obvious simulation, why would that behaviour stop?

Scottish refereeing has been under scrutiny for years, and incidents like this do absolutely nothing to improve confidence in the officials.

Penrice got his penalty, Ran***s got their advantage, and we are all left asking the same question once again.

Is VAR actually improving Scottish football refereeing, or simply giving us another reason to argue about it?