Willie Collum has apologised to AS Roma for wrongly awarding Borussia Monchengladbach a penalty in their Europa League clash.
From close range the ball was headed into the face of on-loan defender Chris Smalling but in true ‘look-at-me’ fashion the man from the Lanarkshire Referee Association paused for a moment then pointed to the penalty spot.
Smalling and other players protested about the decision, there hadn’t been any claim from the German side but no-one is ever going to change Collum’s mind during a match.
Lars Stindle stepped up to take the stoppage time penalty, netted and Monchengladbach went home with a point that was wholly down to the mistake/arrogance of a Scottish referee.
Willie Collum apologises for Roma penalty gaffe as he’s branded ‘unacceptable’ by Italian media https://t.co/rcpaEnzNwo pic.twitter.com/jqOZiiXDet
— Scottish Sun Sport (@scotsunsport) October 25, 2019
#ASRoma’s management spoke to the match officials after the game and they admitted that the decision to award the penalty was a mistake. We respect and thank them for their genuine honesty and now we focus on the next game. #ForzaRoma pic.twitter.com/tyPZlJxMxE
— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) October 24, 2019
? Even this baby at the Olimpico last night could see it wasn’t a penalty pic.twitter.com/HcgNsVj64O
— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) October 25, 2019
#RT @foetball247: RT @ianrankin92: Willie collum at it again… how does he still get away with being this bad a referee, possibly costing teams their place in europe. #retire https://t.co/Dy68CeKcJE
— GOALs (@Sports1RT) October 25, 2019
Alongside Bobby Madden, Collum is getting eased out of Champions League matches due to the lack of VAR trained Scottish officials.
In league matches Roma and Monchengladbach are used to VAR operating but the system isn’t used by UEFA in the group stages of the Europa League despite the equipment being available at a number of grounds.
Collum has a long history of giving decisions that only he is aware of, no apology was ever given to Celtic for the penalty awarded against the old Rangers club in 2010 when television evidence showed that he had his back to play when Kirk Broadfoot fell to the ground.
