Jon Flanagan free for Rangers v Kilmarnock after winning Old Firm appeal

Rangers defender Jon Flanagan has escaped retrospective action for his clash with Celtic captain Scott Brown during last week’s Old Firm match at Ibrox.

The former Liverpool defender was booked by referee Kevin Clancy at the time but SFA compliance officer Clare Whyte cited Flanagan after viewing footage of the incident.

But Flanagan will be available for selection at Rugby Park after the judicial panel removed any threat of a suspension.

Rangers issued a statement in the aftermath of the citation, which questioned the “intent to change the decision of a referee in a match involving Rangers”.

Jon Flanagan (right) shares a joke with Celtic's Scott Brown during the Old Firm clash. Picture: SNS Group

The statement continued: “There seems to be a steady erosion of respect for Scotland’s referees and the authority they are meant to enjoy under Rule 5 of the Laws of the Game.

“The decisions of referees regarding facts connected with play are meant to be final, but referees are now routinely invited to change their decisions after a game has finished.

“It is particularly shocking that another Rangers’ player has been singled out for retrospective action and issued with a notice of complaint while Jozo Simunovic, the Celtic player who used an elbow to fell Jermain Defoe, has escaped any kind of censure.

“Why did one incident escape punishment while the other is now deemed worthy of a red card? We cannot understand how these two incidents could be studied, yet only one be considered worthy of punishment.

“It seems as if Rangers’ players are being held to a different code of conduct from players at other clubs.”

Prior to the meeting, Light Blues assistant boss Gary McAllister had said: “I agreed it was a yellow card. What the referee saw and gave, we were in support of that. That’s how I saw it.

“I thought when you’d been given a yellow card, you couldn’t be cited. We just backed the referee’s decision on the day that it was a yellow.

“I don’t want to comment on what happens at other clubs. The fact is Jon is our player, we just thought it was a coming together and what the ref gave we agreed with.”