The double standards of the SFA
Yesterday the secretive General Purposes Committee handed out a £5,000 suspended sentence to Neil Lennon for his after-match comments against Hearts in November.
The Celtic boss was sent from the touchline by Craig Thompson after watching his side being denied a clear penalty when Ryan Stevenson handled the ball in the Hearts penalty box.
Less than a month earlier Lennon had been lied to by Dougie McDonald after Celtic’s 2-1 win at Dundee United with the hoops boss justifiably angered by being on the wrong end of another refereeing mistake.
“Craig Thomson is meant to be one of the best referees in the country,” Lennon said. “It doesn’t say much for referees if that’s the case.”
Asked if he’d be looking for an explanation over the non-penalty decision he added: “They will probably have their story ready already.”
The rights and wrongs of that case are open to debate but compared to the much harsher criticism of officials at the same time it seems that the General Purposes Committee are very selective about the cases that they look into.
On the same day as McDonald was lying to Lennon Dundee United boss Peter Houston delivered a much more critical assessment of the referee as well as an opposing player.
The Scotland No.2 said: “Celtic created chances but I thought we coped well with anything they threw at us but then Dougie McDonald conspires to try to give a penalty against us.
“It’s not the first penalty that’s been given against us by Dougie. He couldn’t get his finger to the spot quick enough and then he conspires that it’s not a penalty.
“Ki Sung-Yeung went in two minutes later and went down like a sack of tatties. I’ve had players booked for that.”
No announcement has been as to whether Houston has been punished for his comments.
Most critical of all however was a statement from the Hearts director Sergejus Fedotovas which criticised virtually every aspect of the Scottish game and also hinted at something more sinister.
On the day that Steven Craven revealed what went on at the Dundee United-Celtic match the Tynecastle director launched a scathing attack on the SFA.
Fedotovas said: “In an era where players, managers and clubs are suspended or fined heavily for their actions on the pitch, it will leave a bitter taste in the mouths of every honest employee and supporter of football clubs around the country that match officials could act as deceptively as has been reported.
“It is time that the Scottish FA implements a proper system of accountability otherwise the integrity of our game will be further diluted by future incidents.
“How long might it be before attempts by a referee to verbally engineer a situation to suit his own purposes spills into a referee actively engineering situations through actions rather than words? Only a fool would say ‘That could never happen’.”
Yesterday’s General Purposes Committee meeting ended with an announcement about Lennon’s suspended punishment.
With no censure or reprimand for Houston or Fedotovas the Celtic manager will be wondering exactly when the Scottish FA will implement a proper system of accountability otherwise the integrity of the game will be further diluted by future incidents, as the Hearts director might put it.
Alan Thompson praises pigeon chaser Izaguirre.
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