Stuart McCall set for decision on ban appeal

Published on 05/04/2012 00:00

MOTHERWELL manager Stuart McCall will find out today if he is to face a ban for criticising referee Craig Thomson during a Scottish Cup quarter-final against Aberdeen last month.

A disciplinary tribunal is set to be convened at Hampden this afternoon in order to decide whether to uphold the former Scotland player’s one-match ban.

The 47-year-old was sent to the stand at half-time after confronting Thomson over the decision to award the Dons a corner in the opening period which lead to the first goal in a 2-1 defeat at Fir Park. He was subsequently offered the ban by the Scottish Football Association, having allegedly breached the SFA’s rule 203 on the use of offensive, insulting or abusive language towards an official.

The Steelmen manager contends that he simply described the decision to award Aberdeen the corner – which cameras have shown was an erroneous call – as “embarrassing” and did not use any prohibited language.

Motherwell will be hopeful of a more positive outcome than the one which saw Michael Higdon banned by a fast-track committee which decided he had used an offensive gesture towards his own fans in a match against Dundee United.