Why Celtic star escaped red card against Rangers as Collum responds

Willie Collum defends no red card decision for Celtic star against Rangers

Willie Collum has firmly defended the decision not to send off Alistair Johnston during Celtic’s clash with fierce rivals Rangers, insisting officials made the correct call after a VAR review.

Johnston escaped with only a yellow card following a forceful tackle on Mikey Moore, with the incident immediately sparking debate over whether the Celtic defender should have been dismissed for serious foul play.

However, newly released VAR audio shows officials were aligned in their assessment from the outset. After reviewing multiple angles, the VAR team concluded the main contact landed on the top of the foot, with only minimal contact above it.

“Happy with that. Confirmed. Yellow card, reckless tackle,” the VAR official stated, while assistant VAR agreed there was only “a very small glance” above the foot.

Speaking about the flashpoint, Collum explained why the challenge failed to meet the threshold for a red card, stressing that officials were looking for excessive force, brutality and clear endangerment to the opponent’s safety.

According to Collum, while Johnston entered the challenge in a dangerous manner, the way he landed proved crucial to the verdict. He argued the defender arrived much lower than he initially appeared, with a bent leg rather than driving fully through the opponent with force.

Collum also highlighted a distinction between glancing contact and more dangerous challenges involving full studs and force through the leg — something he said was absent in this case.

He warned against assuming every tackle involving contact above the foot automatically deserves a red card, noting that UEFA has recently discussed the idea of “on-off contact” rather than sustained force through a challenge.

Importantly, Collum said VAR had no grounds to intervene further because the footage matched referee Nick Walsh’s on-field interpretation. Since the referee had already described it as reckless rather than dangerous, officials believed there was no clear evidence to justify upgrading the punishment.

The decision was ultimately backed unanimously by the Scottish FA’s Key Match Incident panel, reinforcing the view that a yellow card was the correct outcome — even if the debate among supporters continues.