NINETEEN days after the Glasgow derby it has been revealed that Alfredo Morelos was issued with a third yellow card.
The Colombian was given a second yellow by Kevin Clancy in stoppage time then made a cut throat gesture at Celtic fans as he made his way off the pitch.
That prompted an intensive campaign to defend Morelos with claims that the gesture actually meant ‘Game Over’ in Colombia while every charitable act from the player has been greeted with delight in the Scottish media.
Celtic fans, who were wrongly accused of making racist comments at Morelos, waited for the SFA to cite Morelos with an additional punishment which could have extended his suspension.
Two days after the final whistle the Compliance Officer of the SFA hit Ryan Christie with a two match suspension for an incident viewed and punished by Clancy.
Now more than a fortnight after the match The Sun has reported that Morelos was punished at the time.
ALFREDO MORELOS was booked by Old Firm ref Kevin Clancy for his “game over” gesture to Celtic fans.
SunSport can reveal the Colombian striker was handed the equivalent of a post-match yellow card inside Celtic Park on December 29.
The caution was for making an inflammatory gesture which was considered to be an act of unsporting behaviour. Morelos had already been sent-off in injury-time by ref Clancy for two bookings in the 2-1 victory over the Hoops.
Clancy dealt with the incident as an additional act of misconduct and issued a yellow card. Given the action taken by the official, Gers believe that is the end of the matter.
After failing in their vigorous defence of Christie at appeal Celtic stated:
The fact that a sanction has been imposed on Ryan for the incident in question demonstrates a worrying lack of consistency in the Scottish FA fast track process.
Naturally, we will be contacting the Scottish FA regarding our concerns. Scottish football deserves a disciplinary process which is fair, consistent and fit for purpose.
It remains to be seen whether the third yellow for Morelos and the way that it became public will prompt further comment from Celtic.
