What IFAB laws say about Rangers penalty vs Celtic as 'careless' wording may explain decision

Celtic fans thought it was a nonsense and Rangers supporters said it was a stonewaller. That's football.

VAR was brought in to help in these situations but it was never going to prevent the disagreements off the pitch, especially when it comes to the Old Firm. When Fabio Silva went down under the challenge of Alistair Johnston few were surprised to see him yellow carded for diving, given the Portuguese's antics already in the game.

But then when John Beaton was sent to the monitor and a replay showed the Canadian catching him on the knee, you suspected it was going to be flipped and Gers would indeed get a penalty. That's what happened and Chris Sutton wasn't impressed on commentary while Michael Stewart later labelled the decision 'beyond belief'.

Brendan Rodgers accused Silva of taking a dive but Sportscene pundits Neil McCann and Peter Grant took the opposite view and thought a penalty was fair.

Clear as mud, then. But what do the IFAB laws of the game actually say in relation to this sort of tackle?

Under Law 12, a foul should be given when a player “tackles an opponent to gain possession of the ball, making contact with the opponent before touching the ball." That would suggest Johnston would be in the clear as he did appear to make contact with the ball first.

But there is a caveat if the defending player is deemed “careless, reckless, or using excessive force.”

“Careless” is when the player has not exercised due caution in making his play, “reckless” means that the player has made unnatural movements designed to intimidate an opponent or to gain unfair advantage. And "excessive force” is when the player has far exceeded the use of force necessary to make a fair play for the ball and has placed his opponent in considerable danger of bodily harm.

It would seem the most likely that Beaton deemed Johnston to have been careless in his tackle, causing him to kick Silva in the knee after his contact on the ball.