Rodgers dugout sweat as SFA hearing looms
Rodgers (left) will be hoping to be in the dugout as his side take on Rangers next month
Celtic manager, Brendan Rodgers is set to attend an SFA hearing on Thursday, after his criticism over the officiating when his side lost to Hearts earlier this month.
The Hoops lost 2-0 against Steven Naismith’s side on 3rd March, in a game plagued with controversial refereeing calls.
Rodgers described the standard of officiating as “incompetent” and expressed his concern over the performance of referee Don Robertson and John Beaton on VAR.
Celtic were reduced to 10 men after South Korean winger, Yang Hyun-Jun was sent off for a high boot on Alex Cochrane.
Robertson initially booked Yang for the tackle until Beaton summoned the referee to the pitch-side monitor where the tackle was upgraded to a red card.
Celtic then conceded a penalty, which Hearts converted, after Tomoki Iwata was adjudged to have handled the ball in the penalty area.
Celtic were also awarded a soft penalty prior to Yang’s red card but Adam Idah’s effort was saved by Zander Clark.
The SFA charged the Celtic manager under Disciplinary Rule 72, where any footballing body must not accuse any match official of incompetence or bias.
Conor Bannon, member of MacConnells Celtic Supporters Club, said: “I think managers and players should be allowed to contest decisions made by referees as it would help in improving the standard of refereeing across the country.
“There does need to be limits though on how far a person goes, as it could cause problems for referee safety in extreme cases.”
Should Rodgers be found guilty for his comments, Celtic could face a fine ranging from £1,000 to £100,000.
Celtic will be more concerned about the risk of Rodgers facing a touchline ban. The SFA can issue bans from two to twenty games.
A trip to Ibrox awaits the Scottish champions, and there is a serious threat that Rodgers will be absent.
The result of the tie could be pivotal as the race to the title intensifies so Celtic will be hoping their manager will be present.
Celtic were reportedly unhappy at the length it’s taken for the hearing to be scheduled as when they appealed Yang’s red card, it was fast-tracked to two days after the match.
Rodgers’ hearing was unable to be expedited.
In the aftermath of the game, Crawford Allan, Head of Refereeing Operations at the SFA resigned amidst fierce criticism of refereeing performances this season.
Rangers wrote to the SFA after their defeat at Celtic Park in December, calling for VAR audio to be released after Alistair Johnston’s apparent handball and requested Willie Collum to not be involved refereeing any further Rangers games.
Motherwell also contacted the SFA asking for an explanation why a goal was disallowed due to a handball in the build-up against Aberdeen last week.
Mr Bannon continued saying: “I would like to see referees declare who they support prior to joining and then not be involved in matches of the team they support or the rivals of the team.
“By having full time referees or referees from abroad I think would be extremely beneficial to most fans as we would feel confident there is no bias and maximum impartiality in making decisions.”
