The news on Thursday that Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers would receive a touchline ban from the Scottish FA was met with a mixed reaction.
Some noted that Rodgers was still landed with the original two-match suspension appealed against – albeit one of them won’t take effect unless there’s another similar offence before the end of the season.
However, the fact that the Celtic boss was given a reprieve from being booted out of the dugout at Ibrox for the upcoming match against Rangers was seen as a victory for the Bhoys in some quarters.
He’ll now only be missing from the touchline for this weekend’s trip to Livingston – a situation that should be more than manageable for all the professionals involved in seeking three points.
It’s important to note that the SFA rule forbids a manager from calling the competency of referees into question and that’s exactly what Rodgers appeared to do in the wake of the controversial defeat to Hearts at Tynecastle. He wasn’t wrong in anything he said but you can see where he’s fallen foul of the rule.
When former Hibernian player Paul McGinn was in breach of the same rule back in the 2021/22 season, he was made to sit out two matches on an immediate basis following an appeal, after describing John Beaton’s refereeing as ‘inept’.
Celtic’s argument in Scottish FA appeal of Brendan Rodgers ban
So how did Celtic wangle avoiding the hit of the full two-match ban and prevent Rodgers from missing the upcoming Ibrox clash?
The Daily Record [29/03 print edition, page 49] reports that Celtic’s legal team highlighted numerous examples of other top-flight managers calling VAR into question – examples that subsequently went unpunished by the SFA’s compliance officer.
That appears to have put the SFA on the back foot here and resulted in them not making Rodgers serve both matches of his suspension, while still finding him in breach of the rule.
The subject of refereeing and VAR has been a hot topic in Scotland throughout this term and Rodgers was only saying what many observers were thinking – especially concerning the penalty decision against Tomoki Iwata.
If Celtic found examples of other managers saying similar things to Rodgers about their own matches, only to not be subsequently cited, then they are well within their rights to use that in an appeal. In this case, it has helped Rodgers not sit out two matches, but only one.
Copyright © 2024
Leave a Reply