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Lawwell on mute as SFA manipulate suspensions for Ibrox Covidiots

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Image for Lawwell on mute as SFA manipulate suspensions for Ibrox Covidiots

Since the 2nd of March Peter Lawwell has been sitting back unconcerned by the Double Standards of the SFA.

On the 10th of August Celtic’s season was turned upside down as news broke that Boli Bolingoli had awarded himself a quick trip to Spain and decided not to self-isolate.

Within 48 hours of the news breaking Celtic had two matches postponed and a yellow card from the Scottish Government. The postponements meant that Neil Lennon’s side only had one more match to prepare for a Champions League qualifier against Ferencvaros.

Defeat in that match cost the club a possible £30m in income during the season that it was required most. The consequences were dire. On August 28 the SFA announced a three match suspension for Bolingoli, the punishment was irrelevant but the timescale was noticeable. Two matches postponed and an 18 day turnaround for the SFA to hand out their punishment.

On the morning of February 14 Douglas Park polished off his king-sized breakfast to discover that some of his highly paid stars had been issued with Fixed Penalties. Later than day the club issued a statement about an investigation. Three days later Steven Gerrard named the five players involved, fortunately, between them, they had started less than 10 matches all season.

The SFA were noticeably slow to take any action. By March 2, the timescale that Bolingoli was handed his suspension, there was no word from Ian Maxwell about charges for Nathan Patterson and his Covidiot team-mates. Which was fortunate for Patterson who was now a regular in the first team after James Tavernier hurt his leg.

Finally the SFA got around to raising charges against the Ibrox stars. On the 30th of March the SFA announced four match suspensions covering two dead-rubber SPFL matches and probably two Scottish Cup ties.

Throughout March Celtic sat back silently, unwilling to go public over the clear double standards. On March 21 Patterson played in the Glasgow Derby, had the Bolingoli timetable been applied he’s have been watching from the sidelines.

Celtic were approached for a comment on this issue but declined to reply. It seems, like the refereeing performances of John Beaton and Steven McLean the club is quite content to be subjected to a different set of rules to their Old Firm partners. It could be said that this acceptance goes back to the 2011 UEFA licence given to a club with overdue tax payables. Taking this issue to UEFA apparently isn’t in the club’s best interests.

With no questions asked about the Double Standards of the SFA they have licence to ramp things up even more, Dom McKay’s workload is much, much higher than he imagined.

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