Allan McGregor is set to appeal his recent two match ban from the SFA in person, according to the Scottish Sun.
The veteran Rangers goalkeeper was given the punishment for a challenge on Aberdeen teenager Lewis Ferguson during the Gers’ feisty 4-2 win over the Dons last week.
During the match, referee Bobby Madden seemingly saw the incident, but chose not to act on it, with a ban being given retrospectively.
The Ibrox side immediately moved to challenge the decision on the basis that Madden had an adequate view of the event during the course of play, and it is understood that McGregor will appear at the appeal in person.
OPINION
It’s a strange one this one. By rights, McGregor should be banned. The challenge on Ferguson was unnecessarily rash, using an unjustified amount of force, and caused real danger to the Aberdeen teenager. That being said, the referee did clearly see the incident during the match and simply chose not to act on it. That puts the SFA in a predicament. Should they uphold the ban but go against their own rules and set a precedent whereby they can overturn a referee’s decision retrospectively? Or do they let McGregor get away with a blatant act of dangerous play? Either outcome is going to be newsworthy for sure, and the former could open up a whole can of worms. That being said, it is surely time that the governing body recognised that a referee seeing an incident should not necessarily act as a reprieve for the offender, and that sometimes a little bit of hindsight could lead to some much better decisions.