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‘It’s difficult to understand’ – former Fifa referee baffled VAR didn’t intervene over Rangers Cyriel Dessers shirt pull
He can't fathom why the penalty was now awarded
A FORMER Fifa referee was left baffled after Rangers were denied a penalty for a clear shirt pull on Cyriel Dessers last night.
The Nigerian hitman, 30, was furious when he wasn't awarded the spot-kick despite almost having his shirt ripped clean off by Spanish defender Dani Vivian in the early stages of the game.
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Dessers was halted after he seemingly got the better of the 25-year-old as he chased down the ball down in the box to break the deadlock for Gers.
Vivian grabbed a hold of Dessers and the striker claimed at full-time that the Bilbao defender admitted to him during the game it WAS a penalty offence.
Rangers hero Kris Boyd branded the controversial incident a "disgrace", while fellow Ibrox icon Ally McCoist blasted the VAR official for "not doing his job".
Bosnian referee Irfan Peljto was having none of it and wasn't sent to the monitor to review the incident.
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It was a massive moment in the game as Rangers would've taken the driving seat in the tie if they had found the net from 12 yards.
Dessers couldn't believe his eyes when the game resumed as normal as he made his feelings clear to the officials, pointing to his shirt which had been ripped across the chest.
And famed retired whistler Keith Hackett agrees with the striker and pundits that it was a ridiculous decision from the match officials.
He told Football Insider: “The shirt pull should really have been picked up by VAR, who should then have sent the referee to the monitor.
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“It is difficult to understand why this clear offence was not acted upon and a penalty kick was not awarded.”
Addressing the incident at full-time, fuming Barry Ferguson blasted: “It’s a clean pull on Cyriel and a clear red card. If they go down to ten men that changes the full game and it baffles me at times some of the decisions.
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“Then the second one, in the second-half with Nico, when the defender’s hand is out and the ball strikes it. That’s another penalty.
“The fourth official wasn’t willing to speak to me and I wasn’t going to get a booking myself. Then Cyriel comes off to change his strip and gets a yellow card when he throws it.
“Look, I’m not going to tip-toe around it, everybody in this room and everybody who watched it knows it was a penalty kick and a red card.
“So it's disappointing that the referee hasn’t made the right decision. But the second one is clear as day as well.
“Before Nico strikes it, it clearly hits the player’s hand. It’s frustrating we didn’t get both penalties.”
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