Rangers’ Ryan Kent escapes suspension despite red card in Lyon friendly

French disciplinary officials will not report winger’s dismissal to Scottish FA
Rangers winger Ryan Kent is sweating on a possible two-match SFA suspensionRangers winger Ryan Kent is sweating on a possible two-match SFA suspension
Rangers winger Ryan Kent is sweating on a possible two-match SFA suspension

Ryan Kent is free to kick off Rangers' domestic campaign after French disciplinary officials confirmed they would not be reporting the winger's red card against Lyon to their Hampden counterparts.

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard feared he could be without his £7 million signing for his side's opening two Scottish Premiership matches after he was sent off at the Groupama Stadium on Thursday night.

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Kent was dismissed just before half-time as he reacted angrily to being goaded by the French club's Brazilian defender Marcelo with a petulant slap.

Had the French Football Federation decided to forward on referee Karim Abed's report to the Scottish Football Association, it would have left the former Liverpool player staring at a two-game ban for violent conduct - ruling him out of Rangers' opening trip to Aberdeen and their first home game against St Mirren.

Celtic found themselves in a similar situation last season when defender Jozo Simunovic sat out the first two league fixtures after being sent off in a warm-up clash with St Gallen.

But Kent will not face a similar suspension after the FFF confirmed to the PA news agency that it "does not plan to report the red card to the Scottish Association".

Kent is also free to face Nice in their final Veolia Trophy clash on Saturday evening.

The winger's sending-off was the only negative as Rangers stepped up their pre-season schedule with an impressive 2-0 win over Rudi Garcia's team on Thursday.

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