SFA REVEALS REASONS BEHIND CANDEIAS’ RED
What did I do, ref? You goaded the Saints
THE SFA last night broke with convention by revealing the reasons behind Willie Collum’s dismissal of Daniel Candeias during Rangers’ recent 2-0 win over St Mirren in Paisley. A Hampden statement said the Portuguese winger was issued with a second booking for goading Buddies defender Anton Ferdinand and making ‘gestures’ to him — thought to be the blowing of kisses — as Candeias celebrated Alfredo Morelos’ stoppagetime clincher. Ibrox boss Steven Gerrard insisted after the match that his player had done nothing wrong and branded his sending off ‘embarrassing’. Rangers then tried unsuccessfully to have the red card overturned on the grounds of mistaken identity. Already on a caution for leaving
the field of play after getting the breakthrough goal ten minutes from time, Candeias was then booked for what initially seemed to be little more than an exchange of words with Ferdinand after the Saints defender had confronted him and put his arm around his neck. Collum’s decision to caution the pair, and consequently issue Candeias with a red, was met with widespread confusion. Last night, however, the SFA took the unusual step of giving Collum’s version of events by way of an explanation. A written reasoning posted on the SFA website stated: ‘The referee provided a statement confirming the nature of the offence in respect of which the player was cautioned for a second time. ‘He confirmed that he issued the caution to the player as at the time he believed that the player had been involved in two incidents, making gestures towards the opponent, the St Mirren No 35, after the scoring of a goal and becoming further involved with the opponent as he made his way upfield after celebrating the goal. ‘The tribunal viewed the video footage of the incidents, supplied by the claimant, and carefully considered the claimant’s written submission and the written statement of the player. ‘Having done so, the tribunal found that the referee correctly identified the player as being the player involved in the incidents with the St Mirren No 35. The video footage showed this. ‘The claimant, in their written submission, had accepted that there had been contact between the player and the St Mirren No 35. The referee cautioned both players. Accordingly, the tribunal found, on a balance of probabilities, that there had been no error on the part of the referee and no mistaken identity with regard to the players involved in the incidents and specifically in relation to the player for whom the claimant had appealed. ‘Therefore, the determination of the tribunal was that the claim be dismissed and that the caution and dismissal, and mandatory sanction, be reimposed.’ After the match on November 3, Saints keeper Craig Samson accused Candeias of showing a lack of respect towards his team, saying: ‘When they scored the second goal, he ran past and gave Anton a bit of stick, telling him to “shoosh” and blowing him kisses. So when he ran past me I sort of grabbed him and said: “Look, there’s no need to be so disrespectful...you’ve won the game so just go celebrate with your team-mates.’ Gerrard had given a stunned reaction watching a replay after the game. ‘So Daniel gets a yellow card for that? Come on, lads. Be serious,’ he said at the time. ‘The second yellow card is embarrassing. There is your evidence, that’s what you’re dealing with.’ After the appeal failed, Rangers issued a statement calling for a rule change in the area where an erroneous yellow card cannot be appealed on grounds other than mistaken identity. The club also insisted there was an ‘underlying issue’ with Collum — albeit Gerrard subsequently distanced himself from this claim. After Rangers complained to the SFA, a groin injury saw Collum sit out last Friday’s game between Aberdeen and Hibs but he is now set to take charge of Ayr’s match with Morton in the Championship this Saturday.