SFA ref chief John Fleming says video referees would be welcomed in Scottish football.

Whistlers Craig Thomson and Andrew Dallas both came under fire at the weekend on the back of controversial decisions that would be eligible for review under a proposed Video Assistant Referee system.

Live tests have been carried out at the Club World Cup and in the Netherlands on the set-up similar to the TMO protocol used in rugby union.

It involves a VAR informing the match referee of any clear mistake made, the man in black can also ask to see footage for himself if a call, such as a red card, is open to interpretation.

If positive feedback from trials continue, the VAR could be ratified as early as next year by the International Football Association Board.

“I’ve been involved in it for two years,” said Fleming. “VAR will progress depending on the results of experiments worldwide. There has been a lot of interest in this system to IFAB more than any other experiment they have run. Even goal-line technology.

“In 2017, anything that can be introduced to relieve the decision making on such tight decisions where it’s sometime a question of speed or a fine line – was the player offside or on – would be welcomed,” he said.

“I don’t know anyone in the refereeing movement I speak to that would be different. It would be welcomed if it assisted the referee in decision making when it is factual. Where it is a matter of opinion we will always have discussion or debate. You will show a clip and 50% will say yes and 50% will say no. That’s human nature, and that’s where it becomes more difficult.

“In terms of facts, anything that helps referees will be welcomed.”

The SFA's head of referee operations also refused to rule out the possibility of Scottish referees going full-time at some point in the future. A criticism levelled at our whistlers has revolved around the fact they juggle careers with their ambitions on a weekend, unlike our English cousins.

“I don’t know if it’s a possibility, again things are governed around resource and finance,” he said.

“It’s not something I’ve spoken to the SFA about it. But we wouldn’t have looked at goal-line technology five years ago, we wouldn’t have looked at video assistant referees three years ago, so everything changes. The whole game evolves.”