Scotland’s refereeing fraternity are reportedly angry over the one match suspension handed to Dundee United’s Nadir Ciftci with some reviving memories of the 2010 referee strike.
Ciftci faced a ten match ban for grabbing assistant referee Alan Harris by the throat during a stormy League Cup tie with Inverness Caley Thistle.
That charge was brought by Harris and and referee Kevin Clancy but after hearing all the evidence at Hampden yesterday a one match suspension was imposed for ‘placing an open hand into the lower area of the assistant referee’s throat’.
Dundee United are viewing the verdict as a moral victory with the striker available again after sitting out Saturday’s clash with Hearts with the ten match suspension threat cleared.
“While still disappointed at the outcome we respect the decision and accept that it is now a time to draw a line under this and move on,” Jackie McNamara told the Evening Telegraph.
“It is more disappointing that the sending off on the night of the game probably cost us our place in the cup.”
The highly secretive referee’s association viewed things differently with an un-named spokesperson saying: “
“We wish to express our deep dissatisfaction at the leniency of the sanction imposed by Tuesday’s Disciplinary Tribunal on a player who was found guilty of physically abusing one of our members.
“As an association, we feel this sends out completely the wrong message on issues surrounding the protection of match officials at all levels of the game in Scotland.
“Following a weekend of action taken by some of our number in 2010, assurances were given by the Scottish FA that it would take very seriously the protection of referees.
“Our association strongly believes that a thorough review of the governing body’s duty of care responsibilities to match officials should now be undertaken to ensure that referees are operating within a safe working environment.
“We will be seeking talks with the Scottish FA within the next few days to discuss matters before reporting to our members.”
The referee strike in 2010 was never quite explained with most blame aimed at Neil Lennon following the Dougie-Dougiegate scandal at Tannadice when shamed former referee Dougie McDonald was found to have lied to the Celtic boss about a penalty decision he overturned.
Stuart Dougal was one of the leading apologists at that time alongwith Kenny Clark as they dredged up stories from the past about the downsides of their lucrative part-time occupations.
After hearing about the Ciftci verdict Dougal showed the strength of his anger by commenting on a decision that didn’t involve Lennon.
The former whistler told the BBC: “I would say the punishment certainly doesn’t fit the crime. I think most fair-minded people, never mind ex-referees, would say this is not right.
“To miss one match for what is in effect an assault on a match official is way out of kilter with previous punishments.”
a one match ban is a joke, that guy should have been banned for the season…if that happened in the EPL then he probably would have been rightly banned for a whole year.
I’m no fan of referees but how are they meant to feel safe to make a decision if they feel threatened like that?
Really Mharko? Perhaps, Callum Murray instilled in him, a belief, a stiff upper lip, work ethic, if you like?…that if you can cope with half a dozen players manhandling you at one time, then you’re prepared for anything. Keep calm and move on, nothing to see here Timmy! H×2
yeah thats a good point there, they dont do themselves many favours sometimes when it comes to equal punishment…i just think if i was a referee i would want him banned for a long time and i agree with the referee committee that they should get it looked at again, regardless of their failure to stand up to the manhandling oldco players of the diouf generation. referees in scotland are getting easier and easier to manipulate and ultimately push over the edge, they need to stabalise themselves if they want anyone to eventually trust them!
Scott Brown gets a THREE-game ban from Uefa for flicking Neymar with his foot — and Cifcti gets a ONE game ban from the SFA for assaulting a referee? (Can you say “buncha prissy, spineless pussies”)?
No wonder Jackie McNamara wants to “move on”. He knows his player got away with a very slight pat on the wrist…..I can’t help wonder what punishment any Celtic player would have received if he’d grabbed a ref by the throat during an SPFL game. Any bets it wouldn’t have been a one-game suspension?
Tenner. It is not just Scotland with shocking decisions. Its England too. Anyone remember Torres scratching the Spurs defender on the face?
…..I can’t help wonder what punishment any Celtic player would have received if he’d grabbed a ref by the throat during an SPFL game. Any bets it wouldn’t have been a one-game suspension?
He’d probably be spending Christmas in Barlinnie and if Lenny was involved the government would have to deploy the army to control the civil unrest from ra peepul
The referees and the SFA have only themselves to blame after let Bougera off with manhandling a referee.
What ban would Scott Brown been given if he had done this.
Luckily we’ll never know as Broony isn’t that daft… is he??
The comment by Stevie is spot on. They made a rod for their backs when the goat lovers refused to punish Bougera for his assault. Then again it was all Lenny’s fault!!!
Agree,Stevie and Mick.
The sfa set a precedent by not punishing
bougherra.As he forcibly restraint the ref
from showing diouf a red card.
So no sympathy from me.Moreover,the ref did not include it in his report.Was this
because the dead club were playing
against us ?
Surely, I am not being paranoid here ?
I see Broadfoot got a red last night in the Blackpool game. 1 of 3 in a mental 10 min spell. Is he channeling the ‘peepul’ spirit of the dead club into his new employers?
Dundee United should make their footage available for all to see. I have seen it and it’s an absolute joke that this charge was ever put forward. See the still image in context and you will see that the linesman was the one who ran into Ciftci’s finger which touched him for like 1/4 of a second. A total joke and another referee stitch up. The big story here is the integrity of the referee (Kevin Clancy) and linesman (Gavin Harris) connected to this incident. None of their original charges have stood up to the video footage of the event.
Of course it is fitting! Ciftci is not a Celtic player, so a single game ban is in keeping with all that is expected in anti-Celtic Scotland.
The big story here is not any perception of leniency but rather that referees lied again. He was not “grabbing” the linesman by the throat but pointing out his displeasure at a poor descision when the linesman ran into him. Referees are final arbiters in our game; they are the law, the one thing they must be is honest.
When they are shown not to be honest it should be the end of their career but instead we have the refereeing ‘fraternity’ threatening strike action.
Dodgy old game Saint!