Hibs challenge SFA over O'Connor diving ban

Hibs are to challenge the SFA’s newly appointed Compliance Officer after Garry O’Connor was hit by an unexpected two match ban.

The suspension has been applied after an incident during last week’s Hibs v St Johnstone match when referee Steve Conroy awarded Hibs a penalty after O’Connor was ‘fouled’ in the penalty box.

It had been believed that the Compliance Officer’s role was to punish incidents missed by the referee such as Steven Naismith elbowing Austin McCann which earned the Rangers player a two match ban.

Allowing the Compliance Officer to over rule the referee is something entirely different with Hibs challenging the retrospective ban on their leading scorer.

If the Compliance Officer is able to over rule match referees Hibs are perfectly entitled to question if the penalty incident was the first mistake of the season while the reaction of referees- who went on strike last season for unknown reasons- is certain to be hostile as an honest mistake from Conroy is over ruled.

Confirming the appeal from Hibs an SFA statement read: “In relation to an incident of alleged simulation involving Garry O’Connor in the recent match between Hibernian FC and St Johnstone FC, Hibernian were issued with a complaint from the Compliance Officer offering a standard two-match suspension.

“The club have chosen to refer the matter to a Fast Track Tribunal, which will be convened on Thursday.”

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