New Rangers boss Derek McInnes could face a touchline ban after being cited by the Scottish FA for branding a late Celtic penalty at Motherwell “disgusting.” The complaint relates to remarks he made at the end of last season while managing Hearts.
Motherwell and midfielder Elliott Watt have also been reported over social media posts criticizing the stoppage-time handball decision, which Kelechi Iheanacho converted. Celtic’s 2-1 win at Fir Park kept them a point behind Hearts, before they overtook them to clinch the title on the final day.
All three cases are scheduled for disciplinary hearings on 16 July.
Speaking after a win over Falkirk at Tynecastle, McInnes said that when he heard Celtic had a 96th-minute penalty under VAR review, he expected it to be awarded, and after seeing it again called the decision “disgusting,” adding he didn’t think it was a penalty and that his team was “up against everybody.”
Motherwell posted on X that, as the wider game mocked Scottish football, it was time to “draw a line in the sand and shift the focus,” while Watt called it “the worst VAR decision in history.”
Following the incident, referee John Beaton’s contact details appeared online, leading police to monitor his home. A teenager was later charged in connection with a data protection offence.
The SFA’s notice cites disciplinary rule 72, which prohibits anyone under its jurisdiction from publicly criticizing match officials in a way that suggests bias or incompetence, or from making comments that impugn an official’s character.