Irfan Peljto infuriated Barry Ferguson as the Light Blues manager claimed the Bosnian whistler missed two obvious spot kicks for Gers in Bilbao.
Bosnian referee Irfan Peljto was banned for six months by his own football association earlier this season after making three blunders in one game, including failing to award two penalties.
Barry Ferguson was furious when the referee refused what he saw as two blatant penalty kicks during Rangers’ 2-0 Europa League quarter-final loss to Athletic Club in Bilbao.
Peljto and his VAR team did nothing after Yeray Alvarez pulled Cyriel Dessers’ shirt in the penalty area, and Gers claimed an Athletic Bilbao handball was missed when Nico Raskin hit the post in the second half.
Peljto has previous experience with Rangers, having awarded a penalty to Belgian team Union St Gilloise in a Champions League qualifier three years ago after a dubious handball against Connor Goldson.
In addition, his own Bosnian FA suspended him for an error-filled disaster of a game in September of this season.The 40-year-old, who has been a FIFA referee for ten years, officiated a fierce rivalry between Zrinjski Mostar and Borac Banja. The Football Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Committee for Referees and Refereeing verified Peljto’s three mistakes in the game, which concluded in a 1-1 tie.
According to their evaluation, he failed to give a penalty against Borac and then missed a foul in the following attack, resulting in a goal for Zrinjski.
His final error occurred when he failed to award a penalty to Zrinjski Mostar, which should have been granted.
He was suspended for six games in the Bosnian league, and all of the VAR officials involved in that game were also banned for six games. The Bosnian FA statement explained: “In the 25th minute, the referee, despite being very well positioned and having a clear view of the action, failed to detect an obvious foul and award a penalty kick to FK Borac.
“In the 26th minute, the referee, although well positioned, failed to award a direct free kick for the away team after a clear foul which led to a goal for the home team
