Brendan Rodgers has broken his silence on his one-match ban from the Scottish FA.
The Celtic manager will not be in the dugout for the game against Livingston on Saturday.
However, Rodgers will be back in the technical area for the derby tie against Rangers next month after receiving a one-match immediate ban and another one-match punishment suspended.
The Northern Irishman was in front of a Scottish FA hearing on Thursday where a decision was made over the breach of Rule 72 which forbids criticising match officials “in such a way as to indicate bias or incompetence”.
On his reaction to the ban, Rodgers said: "We are obviously disappointed with the outcome, but we respect the decision.
"My thanks go to the club for their unwavering support in helping us fight it but we respect our punishment and we move on."
Asked whether he regretted his comments, Rodgers said: "No. I think there is just a misunderstanding of the interpretation really.
"In my time here I have always talked about improving standards, whether that is with VAR on this occasion whether it was the pitches we play on. My whole drive always up here is to improve the standards and I just thought on that day it wasn't quite where we would want it to be and was maybe misconstrued or misunderstood.
"But, certainly I have no regret over it no."
READ MORE: Fans return to Celtic vs Rangers as new-style away allocation agreed
The Scottish Football Association’s website stated that the outcome of the hearing was proved and that: “Two match suspension applied as follows: One match immediate and one match suspended until the end of season 2023/24. Suspended sanction applicable only should Brendan Rodgers further breach Disciplinary Rule 72 within this period.”
The Celtic boss was frustrated that Yang was initially shown a yellow card against Hearts for a high-boot challenge involving Hearts’ Alex Cochrane before referee Robertson upgraded it to a red, after being advised by Beaton to review the incident on the pitchside monitor.
Rodgers was further irked when the home side were awarded a penalty just before the break after a headed clearance from Celtic defender Liam Scales landed on Iwata’s arm. Jorge Grant netted the resulting spot-kick and Lawrence Shankland scored the Jambos’ second goal in the 56th minute.
Celtic released a statement on their official website which expressed disappointment at the outcome.
The statement said: “Clearly, we are disappointed with the outcome of today’s hearing, although we will accept the panel’s decision.
“The manager appeared at the hearing today, and his defence was presented robustly and thoroughly.
“Like many other clubs, we will continue to press for the highest standards in relation to the VAR process in Scottish football.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel