Why Greg Taylor 'push' on Rangers star Nicolas Raskin before Celtic no goal was swerved as IFAB offer explainer

Abdallah Sima's header was controversially ruled out by VAR during the Scottish Cup Final.

Mark Wilson insists the VAR was right to not flag for a "foul" on Nicolas Raskin from Greg Taylor in the build-up to a Rangers goal controversially being chalked off.

Abdallah Sima thought he had opened the scoring in the Scottish Cup Final - but the man in the middle Nick Walsh was sent to the monitor by John Beaton in the VAR room. A push from Nicolas Raskin on Joe Hart in the build-up to the strike was flagged to the referee - and he would decide to chop the goal off at the national stadium.

Philippe Clement was left frustrated as Adam Idah went on to score late in the game for Celtic and take the trophy back to Glasgow's east end - claiming that "all the Celtic players" had been "grabbing my players with their arms around their neck and waist" before the goal was chalked off. Left-back Taylor has been adjudged to be the main offender after he was involved in a tussle with Raskin before he made contact with goalkeeper Hart.

But speaking to Clyde 1 Superscoreboard, former Celtic star Wilson was having none of it: "I thought the big call - the disallowed goal - they got that right. I sympathise with the referee, it is very difficult to see that i think and I suppose that is what VAR is there for.

"I think you can clearly see that Raskin pushes Joe Hart. He has two hands on his back. I hear the moans that Greg Taylor is fouling Raskin before but I honestly don't think there is enough in that.

"If a foul is given for that then everybody in the box at every corner is going to be penalised. So, you are never getting that foul, but you can't put two hands on the back of a goalkeeper and push him."

And the IFAB rules offer a major clue why the match officials punished Raskin and not Taylor. Law 12 states that a foul is awarded when a player “pushes a rival", "holds an opponent" or "impedes an opponent with contact" - which would have in this scenario seen a penalty awarded to Rangers for the foul on Raskin by Taylor.

However, it must be judged to be “careless, reckless, or using excessive force". That signals that in this case the VAR team did not agree was what occurred during the flashpoint and did not flag the incident to whistler Walsh.

In contrast, the contact with Hart from the Belgian midfielder did pass the threshold in the view of Beaton. That led to Walsh being sent to the monitor - and Sima's header eventually being chalked off.