Evening Telegraph (First Edition)

Better decision-making is the goal for new referees chief Willie Collum

WILLIE Collum has vowed to ensure better decision-making by on-field referees and less reliance on VAR as he begins a concerted effort to reduce the number of high-profile controvers­ies within Scottish football.

The experience­d Category One referee succeeded Crawford Allan as the SFA head of referees earlier this summer and has been busy meeting a range of stakeholde­rs to discuss how the standard of officiatin­g can be improved.

As a result, it was announced yesterday that Collum, 45, wants to see the increasing­ly contentiou­s handball law interprete­d in Scotland with more of “a football understand­ing”, a higher threshold regarding when VAR is allowed to override the on-field referee’s decision, as well as increased dialogue between team captains and referees to explain the big calls.

“It’s been a busy few months,” said Collum.

“We’ve engaged with our stakeholde­rs, primarily the top referees, the coaches and the players and we’ve listened to the voice of people.

“We’ve listened to the voice of fans because we know, for example, there was a lot of controvers­y and debate among media and spectators about handball, so we’ve tried to realign our handball interpreta­tion more in line with a football expectatio­n and football understand­ing, but with the support of the referees, clubs and coaches.

“Another big change that we’re bringing about, a really positive one, is about the same approach that was adopted during Euro 2024 with the club’s captain and the referee and we’ll deliver that at the top level in the SPFL.

“We hope that will be carried out throughout the lower leagues and competitio­ns and build up a mutual respect and a better dialogue between the referee and the captain, particular­ly about explaining the big, contentiou­s decisions.”

Collum concedes there is “room for improvemen­t” within Scottish refereeing and he is hopeful that an increased focus on sharper on-field decisionma­king will reduce the impact of VAR, which has been a bone of contention with supporters, manager and players alike.