Motherwell have questioned the SFA’s decision to hit Callum Slattery with a retrospective four-game ban for alleged simulation.
Slattery was involved in a clash with St Mirren defender Richard King during a match in Paisley last month.
King was sent off after using an arm to shake off the attentions of Slattery as the pair tussled off the ball.
He was sent off by referee Calum Scott as the Buddies went on to lose 5-0, but the Paisley club were successful in having the decision overturned.
Slattery went down holding his face despite the fact that TV replays appeared to show minimal contact.
The Motherwell man was then cited by the SFA’s compliance officer for breaching disciplinary rule 77 by failing to ‘act in the best interests of Association Football’.
Following a hearing yesterday, he has now been handed a four-match ban, two of which are suspended.
Slattery will miss Motherwell’s next two league fixtures, against Falkirk and Hearts
But Motherwell hit out at that decision, citing ‘inconclusive’ footage as well as general frustration at the manner in which matches are being refereed.
‘On the night, the fourth official communicated to the match referee about the off-the-ball incident, to which a red card was shown to King,’ said a club statement.
‘Following a VAR review, the decision was upheld due to the inconclusive evidence from the cameras, which couldn’t confirm the level of contact with Slattery’s face due to poor quality.
‘Despite the correct protocol being followed on the night, a third layer of refereeing has now been implemented, and despite using the same poor-quality camera angles, the panel has imposed a four-game ban for our player, two of which he is to serve in the next two matches with the other two suspended.
‘The club attended the hearing with clear evidence showing that the camera angles from the match in Paisley couldn’t provide anyone with conclusive footage on the amount of contact to Slattery’s face.
‘This is the first incident in Scottish football where a player has received a match suspension via retrospective action for inappropriate behaviour, and we question why this incident meets the criteria, yet countless others don’t.
‘All clubs have witnessed similar incidents in games which haven’t resulted in retrospective bans; therefore, we will watch and expect consistency going forward so that Callum isn’t treated differently to others. The club will be making no further comment at this time.’
Slattery is now set to miss Motherwell’s next two matches against Falkirk and Hearts.
The decision comes just days after Rangers proposed a meeting with all other top-flight clubs to discuss the standard of refereeing in Scottish football.
