Neil Lennon ban will not affect Scottish Cup final

The sanction on Lennon has been suspended until the end of the next season. Picture: SNS

• The Celtic manager was found guilty of entering the “playing zone”

The Celtic manager was yesterday given just a one-game suspended touchline ban at a Scottish Football Association disciplinary hearing, meaning he will be free to sit in the Hampden dugout for Sunday’s clash with Hibernian. He later wrote on his official Twitter account: “Thrilled to be on the touchline for Sunday..Cup Final is always a special occasion.”

The former Celtic captain was found guilty of entering the “playing zone” at Fir Park within 15 minutes of the final whistle of

Celtic’s 3-1 Clydesdale Bank Premier League defeat by Motherwell last month, while stiil serving a previous three-match touchline ban.

With the SFA hearing having fallen at an inopportune moment, the Northern Irishman feared being forced away from the heart of the action as his side bids to complete the double and give him a second Scottish Cup win as a manager.

Lennon was forced to sit in the Hampden stand when Celtic lost the 2011 League Cup final to Rangers during another touchline suspension. But the SFA suspended his new ban until the end of next season and it will only be

triggered if he breaches any subsequent touchline ban.

The former Celtic skipper was summoned to the Fir Park match officials’ room by referee Euan Norris after the second match of a three-game ban for using offensive language towards St Mirren captain Jim Goodwin.

Kilmarnock manager Kenny Shiels and his club were originally scheduled to face a total of three charges yesterday but their case has been postponed until Thursday 6 June. The charges all relate to comments Shiels made about Celtic in a radio interview last month.

He told BBC Radio Scotland: “They have got a massive influence in the judicial panel and things like that, decisions that’s made. Celtic are the monster of Scottish football.”