SFA CHIEFS THROW THE BOOK AT RANGERS
Hampden chiefs hit club with FIVE disciplinary charges Bitter Collum/Candeias red-card row hits new level
THE SFA have hammered Rangers with five disciplinary charges as the row over ref Willie Collum is ramped up to a new level.
Hampden beaks are going to war with the Ibrox club after they released a stinging statement questioning Collum’s decision making as a
referee. Rangers were fuming with the decision of the whistler to send off Daniel Candeias at St Mirren earlier this month for a second yellow card and will not back down in light of the latest moves.
They claim Collum did not see the incident in which Candeias blew kisses at rival Anton Ferdinand and also question if any of his assistants picked up on the gestures.
Intriguingly, the disciplinary rap could now pitch SFA employees against their paymasters as Rangers alleged in their statement “a number of people within the Scottish FA are in no doubt Collum’s judgment was flawed”.
However, the SFA are getting tough, with Rangers following Kilmarnock boss Steve Clarke into the dock after he also criticised Collum’s abilities for a controversial red card for Gary Dicker in a game against Hearts.
The charges against Rangers include:
Criticising the decision and/or performance of a match official.
Bringing the game into disrepute.
Failing to act in the best interest of the game.
Failing to observe the principles of loyalty, integrity and sportsmanship.
Failing to keep confidential information or documentation relating to proceedings.
The SFA released the full charges on their website last night and declined to comment further on the case. Rangers have until Tuesday to respond to the charges, with a principal hearing set for December 19.
A Rangers spokesman said: “We will contest this vigorously.”
Rangers released a statement three weeks ago criticising Collum and revealed they were also submitting a formal complaint about his performance at St Mirren.
It said: “The manner in which he reacted to an incident involving our player made it obvious he didn’t give due consideration to his decision.
“This is by no means the first time errors of judgment have been made in matches involving this official and clearly there is an underlying issue which requires to be addressed.”
Rangers are unhappy at all the charges levelled against them, particularly the claim they failed to keep information confidential on the case.
That relates to the comment in their statement that senior figures on Hampden’s sixth floor agree Collum was wrong to send off Candeias in injury time of their win.
Several Premiership managers have spoken publicly about their conversations with refs chief John Fleming in the past, for example.
They have never been brought to heel, even when they have revealed apologies have been made over decisions given against their side.