The Uzbekistan referee Ilgiz Tantashev told John McGinn he turned down his penalty claim against Morocco because the ball was going out of play as he was challenged by Neil el Aynaoui — a decision his brother and former Scotland midfielder Stephen McGinn described as baffling.
Scotland midfielder John McGinn went down under a challenge from El Aynaoui during the 1-0 defeat in Boston, a game in which Scott McTominay also appealed for a spot-kick after contact with the same Moroccan midfielder. While Stephen McGinn, now a Falkirk first-team coach, dismissed McTominay's claim as a player "playing for it", he was adamant his brother's case was clear.
“Referee Ilgiz Tantashev told John McGinn his penalty claim was rejected because the ball was going out of play, his brother revealed.”
"The John one, I genuinely thought at the time this is the one. Having seen it back, absolutely a penalty. No doubt in my mind," Stephen McGinn told BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound. "On the pitch, the referee told John, because the ball's going out of play, it wasn't a foul. When has that ever been the case? It doesn't make sense."
His view was echoed by former Scotland winger and Kilmarnock manager Neil McCann. "I think the McGinn one is a penalty and the McTominay one isn't," McCann said. "The McGinn one, we've done it as players. He is understanding that he [El Aynaoui] is coming from the side and he knows he just has to take it across him and take the contact. Granted, it is not a clean-out job, but there's enough contact on his hip to put him out."
The pair also agreed on another flashpoint: the moment Morocco defender Issa Diop pulled down Scotland striker Che Adams as the last man. Both Stephen McGinn and McCann believed the Uzbek referee should have shown a red card instead of a yellow.
"It is absolutely a red card for me," McCann said. "There's no covering defender, it's a clip, so it's not as if it is a ball that's travelling. It is not a natural collision or an accidental pull-down. He's pulled him down. Che Adams got goal side. I can't believe he wasn't brought to the [VAR] monitor."
McCann acknowledged the distance from goal but argued: "Somebody said behind me 'he's quite far out', but we had guys being sent off in the opposition half in the Premiership and I think we all work under the same laws of the game. But that is not far out and Che Adams is completely getting on the ball, otherwise why is the yellow card brandished?"
Stephen McGinn agreed, saying: "The way our league became last season, that's an absolute stonewall red card."
The defeat leaves Scotland with a tough result to digest, but they now travel to Miami for their next fixture — a chance to bounce back after a game that has left former players questioning the officiating and Morocco, in the words of one pundit, having "got away with one".