Scotland was rightly denied a penalty in their final Euro 2024 group game because Stuart Armstrong was deemed to have initiated “physical contact” with Hungary defender Willi Orban, according to UEFA’s head of referees.
Argentine referee Facundo Tello faced criticism from Scotland head coach Steve Clarke following Hungary’s 1-0 victory, which led to Scotland’s elimination from the competition.
However, the decision was defended by Roberto Rosetti, the governing body’s managing director of refereeing, during a briefing on officiating in Germany.
Rosetti explained that the incident was reviewed by the VAR team, which concluded there was no need for an on-field review. He also noted a possible handball by Scotland midfielder John McGinn earlier in the second half.
“This was a very tough game with a couple of controversial incidents,” Rosetti said when asked about the Armstrong incident.
“There was one, for example, in minute 68 when there was a possible penalty because number seven of Scotland, John McGinn, was pulling the opponent’s shirt just before the incident. So, this was one of the possible penalties.
“Then there was of course in minute 79 in the penalty area of Hungary another incident. This was, let’s say, in favour of Hungary. The second one was in favour of Scotland when the attacker of Scotland – Armstrong – was in front of the Hungarian.
“If you watch it from behind the camera, there was a movement of the attacker towards the Hungarian. So, another controversial decision.”
Rosetti stressed that VAR “check everything”.
“There was no intervention because in their opinion the attacker changed the direction towards the defender and, in his opinion, it was just a physical contact to challenge the defender,” he said.
Asked whether Tello had been dropped as a referee for the knock-out stages, Rosetti declined to comment other than to say that some top-class officials always leave tournaments early.
Rosetti also described the decision to award a penalty and show a red card to Scotland centre-half Ryan Porteous in their opening defeat by Germany as “a good decision of the referee at the end, a very good intervention of the VAR”.
Dutch goal ruled out ‘correctly’
Meanwhile, Rosetti affirmed that English referee Anthony Taylor made the correct decision in disallowing Xavi Simons’ goal in the Netherlands’ goalless draw with France.
Rosetti stated that he reviewed the conversation between the officials and found it “very clear why they took the final decision.”
The referee identified Denzel Dumfries in an offside position and, along with his assistant, assessed the possible impact on the goalkeeper, the ball’s trajectory, and the keeper’s ability to make the save.
Rosetti added that the referee committee was satisfied with the overall process, although he acknowledged that the review duration could be shorter. He emphasized that checking two possible offsides and the positions of the attacker and goalkeeper is “not easy.”