However, some decisions made with the benefit of VAR have been overturned on appeal in the days after games.

"It's definitely a work in progress, it was always going to be like that," said Ian Maxwell.

"It's been an interesting season, there's no doubt about that. The technology has worked, which is pleasing because you're always worried when you implement something of this size and scale.

"Along as there are referees in football, there is going to be contention about decisions. I'm not naïve enough to say that it's been perfect, it absolutely hasn't and we need to work to make sure that we increase the amount of decisions that are made correctly on the pitch that don't need a VAR intervention and the number of instances when VAR is getting involved are better.

"But, it's doing what it should in as much as we're seeing fewer wrong decisions being made on a Saturday. We've still got a way to go."

Some handball decisions have attracted criticism and Hearts interim manager Steven Naismith said the controversy over Peter Haring's red card against St Mirren, which was downgraded to a yellow card on appeal, "makes people not believe in it and takes it a step back".

"We don't go about VAR in this country any different from any other country," Maxwell said as the SFA launched its first Week of Football

. "There's a VAR protocol that Fifa set out that we've signed up for.

"The handball rule has specifically had a lot of discussion and debate this season. That is a handball rule - we apply it the same as everybody else is applying it. It's not a Scottish only problem.

"Our match officials are very, very limited in terms of experience of it. Talking about it constantly in a really negative context doesn't help. Our match officials find themselves in a situation where the level of criticism sometimes has gone beyond what it should be. They'll accept when they get decisions wrong.

"It seems like all we do at the moment is talk about VAR decisions."