The SFA have finally caught up with Lee McCulloch with the Sevco skipper offered a two match suspension for his latest assault.
Referee Bobby Madden decided to book McCulloch for his elbow into the back of the head of Dale Carrick followed by stamping on the Raith Rovers man as he lay on the ground. Later in the match the £20,000-a-week utility man committed another foul that many felt deserved a second yellow card but Madden viewed it differently.
Surprisingly the SFA have now offered a two match suspension, it was believed that the SFA Compliance Officer didn’t have authority to intervene on an incident viewed and punished by the match referee.
Late this afternoon the SFA issued a statement saying: “The Compliance Officer has issued the following Notice of Complaint:
Alleged Party in Breach: Lee McCulloch (Rangers FC)
Match: Rangers v Raith Rovers – 8th February 2015 (Scottish Cup)
Disciplinary Rule(s) allegedly breached:
Disciplinary Rule 200: In that at the above match you did deliberately stand upon Dale Carrick of Raith Rovers FC and commit an act of Violent Conduct
Fixed Suspension offer: Yes – two matches (one match applied immediately and one match applied to next match within the Scottish Cup)
Principal Hearing date: Thursday, 12th February 2015
“Mr McCulloch has until 3pm on Wednesday, 11th February 2015 to respond to the complaint.”
There is no mention over whether Madden will be punished for failing to deal properly with the incident.
The previous week McCulloch was involved in a similar incident with John Guidetti either side of elbowing Leigh Griffiths and a two footed lunge on Scott Brown that went unpunished by Craig Thomson.
If the ban isn’t overturned the Sevco stopper will miss Friday night’s home match against fellow play-off contenders Hibs.
