Oliver Glasner was furious down the touchline at the referee's no penalty decision
Scotland midfielder Scott McTominay was wrongly denied a penalty during a crucial World Cup Group C clash against Morocco, according to a leading refereeing expert.
ITV’s referee specialist Christine Unkel expressed her astonishment after Uzbekistan whistler Ilgiz Tantashev waved away McTominay’s appeals for a spot kick during the tense encounter in Boston.
The Napoli superstar appeared to be caught by a clumsy challenge from Neil El Aynaoui inside the penalty box, but Tantashev refused to point to the spot despite strong Scottish protests.
Making matters worse, the VAR officials also failed to intervene and did not recommend that the referee visit his pitchside monitor to review the incident.
Unkel was visibly shocked that neither the on-field referee nor the VAR team acted on what she described as a clear and obvious penalty situation.
Speaking on ITV, Unkel said: “The first thing you are looking for as a VAR is if there is any touch on that ball and the answer is no.”
She continued: “You can see that in the second replay, that is exactly what I was looking for, and you can see there is no touch whatsoever.”
Unkel added: “There is a trip-up coming from behind, contact to the left lower. I do think this is a missed incident from the VAR team, as well as the referee not to make the decision of penalty on the field.”
The referee specialist concluded firmly: “This referee is calling a more physical game but this looks very clear.”
Tantashev had already drawn controversy throughout the match, dismissing a separate penalty appeal from John McGinn while calling an uncompromising game from start to finish.
The result of the Group C clash proved costly for Scotland, as Morocco leapfrogged them in the standings, putting automatic progression from the group in serious jeopardy.
The penalty controversy is likely to dominate discussion among Scottish football fans and officials, with the referee’s handling of the match drawing widespread scrutiny following Unkel’s damning assessment.
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