Scottish FA appoint Martin Atkinson as new VAR manager

Former English Premier League referee Martin Atkinson is to take over as VAR manager at the Scottish FA.

The 53-year-old will take up the post in early December and is replacing Jon Moss, who left after 52 days to become head of referees at Football Australia.

Atkinson was an official in England’s top flight for 20 years and refereed the 2015 Europa League final.

He will leave his role as select group manager at Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) to begin work alongside SFA head of refereeing Willie Collum.

“I am delighted to appoint someone of Martin’s calibre,” said Collum. “I did not expect to be recruiting for that position again so quickly, but Jon received a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and went with our best wishes.

“I am pleased Martin has agreed to continue the considerable work undertaken to date in optimising our VAR operation and I’m sure our VAR officials and match officials generally will look forward to working with someone of Martin’s experience.”