McGinn hit by charge after blast at Beaton
PAUL McGINN has been hit with an SFA charge for blasting ref John Beaton as “inept” following Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup Final defeat to Celtic.
The Hibs full-back has been slapped with a notice of complaint after his furious criticism of the whistler over the winning goal.
McGinn claimed the freekick from which Kyogo Furuhashi scored the winner should never have been awarded – and then said his teammates were led to believe a sub was about to be made because fourth official Greg Aitken was holding up the board before the Hoops took a quick set-piece.
McGinn said: “We are really annoyed about the second goal. It’s not a foul and when it is, the fourth official is holding the board. We just assumed it’s a sub.
“Jamie Murphy could have stood over the ball, as you do, but we just assumed it’s a sub.
“The referee has no control over the situation and just lets it happen and the goal goes in.
“You can see me running to him straight away and I get myself booked. It’s inept.”
The 30-year-old has been charged under rule 72, which states that: “No player shall in an interview, a ‘blog’ on the internet, on a social networking or micro-blogging site, or in any other manner calculated or likely to lead to publicity (i) criticise the decision(s) and/or performance(s) of any or all match official(s) in such a way as to indicate bias or incompetence on the part of such match official; or (ii) make remarks about such match official(s) which impinge on his character”.
A principal hearing has been set for Thursday, January 13.