SFA add to Meekings confusion

THE Josh Meekings saga took a new twist yesterday when it emerged the SFA judicial panel had decided it was not entitled to apply retrospective punishment in his case. On Thursday, the Inverness Caley Thistle defender was cleared to play in the Scottish Cup Final against Falkirk on May 30 after a charge of deliberate hand-ball to deny Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths in last Sunday’s semi-final was thrown out. In the aftermath of the 3-2 extra-time win, Meekings admitted he was fortunate not to have conceded a penalty and been red-carded. His admission — backed by manager John Hughes — preceded the player being cited by the SFA compliance officer Tony McGlennan. That unprecedented move following a game in which a handball incident had gone unpunished, brought a warning from Jim Boyce, head of FIFA’s referees committee, that a successful prosecution would open up a can of worms. Although such a scenario was avoided with the charge being kicked out, the furore surrounding the issue prompted the SFA to

yesterday go public with the tribunal panel’s reasons. And it seems they accepted the preliminary argument of Inverness’ legal representative that they weren’t entitled to take the matter further. A statement read: ‘Further to the judicial panel hearing yesterday involving Josh Meekings, the panel considered initial submissions from Mr Meekings’ solicitor. ‘In particular, it was argued by him that under protocol 13.4.1.1 the judicial panel was not entitled to determine the matter. ‘The panel considered that as the incident (but not the actual alleged sending-off offence of hand-ball) had been seen by one or more of the officials it was not entitled to consider the matter further. ‘It accordingly dismissed the complaint without any consideration of the merits of the incident or the decision arrived at by the referee.’ The explanation raises questions as to whether McGlennan ought to have cited Meekings in the first place. However, legal sources have told Sportsmail that the SFA’s prosecutor is entitled to cite players even in such instances when officials have seen an ‘incident’ but have failed to spot an ‘offence’. Yet it appears that in Meekings’ case, the panel concurred with his solicitor’s argument that they were not entitled to take the matter further as the match officials had seen the incident. The matter is further confused by the fact that former Hearts striker Ryan Stevenson and ex-Motherwell keeper Darren Randolph were previously banned retrospectively for serious foul play as the referees in question had seen the ‘incidents’ but missed the ‘offences’.