Milne seeks crunch talks at Hampden

ABERDEEN chairman Stewart Milne has called for an urgent summit with the SFA and SPFL to address ‘genuine concern’ for the state of the Scottish game. In a statement, the Pittodrie supremo insisted fans have been left bemused by some of the decisions made recently by those who run Scottish football. That includes the controversial decision to stage both Betfred Cup semi-finals at

Hampden on the same day, before the SPFL were forced into an embarrassing U-turn which saw them take one of the games to Murrayfield instead. Milne warned that the credibility of the Scottish game is under serious threat without greater openness from the footballing authorities. The Dons chief said: ‘I very much feel that there is genuine concern for the state of the game in Scotland at the moment. ‘We simply must have consistency and transparency or we all, as clubs, the SFA and the SPFL lose significant credibility and risk losing the fans who have been baffled by several of the outcomes arrived at recently. ‘Without supporters, there is no game and they, as we all do, deserve far more clarity and transparency than we have at present. ‘There are so many positives in our game right now, from a great crop of top-class managers, to a competitive Ladbrokes Premiership and two cracking Betfred Cup semi-finals to look forward to. ‘Yet conversations and headlines seem to be dominated by the several controversial decisions — and we’re only just into October, without having a clear understanding of the process and the reasons these were arrived at. ‘It’s imperative that we get everyone with a vested interest together, sooner rather than later.’ Last night, SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell confirmed his intention to speak to Aberdeen over the issue. ‘We welcome any opportunity to talk to our member clubs and I intend to speak with Aberdeen to better understand any outstanding concerns about our disciplinary process,’ he said in relation to the Pittodrie club’s anger over recent decisions from the SFA’s disciplinary department, including Scott McKenna’s retrospective red card for a foul on Celtic’s Odsonne Edouard and Mikey Devlin’s failed appeal for his sending-off against Kilmarnock. ‘From there, we will consider raising any open issues at the Scottish FA’s Professional Game Board, on which Aberdeen are represented, or through another appropriate forum.’ An SPFL statement added: ‘We welcome this initiative suggested by Stewart Milne and are liaising with our colleagues at the Scottish FA. ‘We look forward to positive discussions with all parties to enable greater understanding of the Scottish FA’s disciplinary procedures.’