The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
SFA take no action over alleged Griffiths stamp
CELTIC: No notice of complaint following Griffiths incident with Hamilton defender
Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths will not face retrospective action after being accused of stamping on Hamilton defender Sam Woods.
The Scottish Football Association confirmed there would be no notice of complaint resulting from Sunday’s Ladbrokes Premiership clash, which Celtic won 4-1.
The match was goalless when the Hoops forward earned a yellow card from referee Nick Walsh after appearing to plant his foot into the prone Woods and then pushing Alex Gogic as the pair squared up.
Hamilton boss Brian Rice later insisted there was “no debate” that it should have been a red card. It is understood SFA compliance officer Clare Whyte referred the incident to three former referees but there was no consensus that it was a red card offence.
Ahead of the decision, Celtic boss Neil Lennon had insisted he would be shocked if Griffiths faced any disciplinary action.
Lennon said: “I would be very disappointed because I saw it at the time. There was no malice in it. His leg was trapped and he was trying to get up.
“So I would be bewildered if anything came from that.”
Celtic visit Motherwell tonight and will assess Jonny Hayes ahead of the game.
The Hoops utility player sustained a calf injury at Hamilton.
Mohamed Elyounoussi and Jozo Simunovic are back in contention but Jeremie Frimpong (knock), Hatem Abd Elhamed (groin), Nir Bitton (knock) and Mikey Johnston (knee) remain out.
Motherwell could hand a debut to on-loan Newcastle winger Rolando Aarons. The 24-year-old will not start but is likely to feature off the bench.
Celtic have launched a firm defence of their supporters amid the fallout to an interview by Alfredo Morelos.
The Rangers striker is reported to have claimed he had experienced racism during his time in Scotland during a television interview conducted in Spanish.
But Celtic have questioned the accuracy of a translation which claimed he had accused home fans of shouting racist abuse at him at Parkhead on December 29.
The club have asked for Sky Sports to investigate the translation of its interview with Morelos, claiming the forward did not accuse Celtic fans of using racist words.
A spokesperson for Sky Sports said: “We are aware of concerns raised about the content of the interview with Alfredo Morelos, while we are checking those we have removed the material from all our platforms.” (See also below).