Ciftci grabs official in match brawl
If you want to escape the severe punishment of being banned for as many as 16 matches then the best thing you could do as a footballer is not grab an official by the throat!
This is a lesson Dundee United’s Nadir Ciftci must be learning by heart following a fracas during the team’s recent League Cup match against Inverness.
Alleged assault on official
The striker stands accused of physically holding an assistant referee by the throat during the match, which Dundee United went on to lose. He is now facing charges of excessive misconduct for apparently ‘seizing’ Gavin Harris, who was the assistant referee during the game.
He is also accused of allegedly grabbing the face of an Inverness player, leading to a direct red card just before the 45th minute of the game, held at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium.
The brawl was set off by Gary Mackay Steven apparently being pushed down following a face to face with Richie Foran, the captain of the Inverness team.
Disciplinary hearing planned
Ciftci’s disciplinary will be held this Thursday and it’s not known yet what penalty he faces but he could be looking at a ban for the next 16 matches of the season, which will have a huge affect on Dundee and the team’s chances. Keeping an eye on their odds during this drama at The Greek Sportsbook is a good idea if you’re a follower of Dundee United’s fortunes, as it will definitely be changeable.
Violent conduct
Although United appealed against the red card, the Scottish FA went ahead and announced the disciplinary hearings with no further comment.
Ciftci previously played for Portsmouth, NAC Breda and Kayserispor and has only been with United since July. As he is on a two year contract he could well miss out on most of that.
As he has scored seven goals in the 13 matches he has played in so far this season, it’s likely that United would miss his skills very much and this could affect their season in a detrimental way.
Straight after the game, Dundee United boss Jackie McNamara was quoted as saying: “It stemmed from Gary Mackay-Steven taking one in the side of the face. I thought it was a foul and I thought the assistant referee had seen it as well. But he decided to do nothing about it and suddenly everything else breaks loose at that moment.”
Ciftci so far hasn’t said anything in response to the announcement of the disciplinary but he has until thursday 7 November to respond and, presumably, get some kind of defence in order. Missing 16 games of this season would be a disaster for both his career and potentially for United.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
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