Hearts Head Coach Robbie Neilson has been given a two-match suspended ban for comments he made about referee Willie Collum after Hearts Ladbrokes SPFL Premiership game against Hamilton on 29 August.
As the ban is suspended, Neilson will only serve the suspension if he breaches league rule 72 again before the end of the current season.
The Gorgie Gaffer commented after the match that Collum had been wrong to send off Hearts defender Callum Paterson.
And he said his Hearts squad had trained with 10 men to prepare for a red card.
The Scottish Football Association’s compliance officer issued a notice of complaint for a breach of disciplinary rule 72, stating of Neilson that “in an interview with the BBC you criticised the performance of the Match Officials in such a way as to indicate bias or incompetence on their part”.
Hearts appeal against the notice was rejected when the disciplinary tribunal met on Thursday.
However, the fact Paterson’s red card was rescinded by the SFA days after the incident and the footballing chiefs have seen fit to serve Robbie Neilson with only a suspended sentence speaks volumes. Whether referee Willie Collum has been punished remains unknown.
Author of The Team for Me - 50 Years of Following Hearts. Runs Mind Generating Success, a successful therapy practice in Edinburgh. Contact me if you want rid of any unwanted habits. Twitter @Mike1874
