SFA dish out four-match ban for comments made about Celtic penalty decision

Motherwell are demanding answers after midfielder Elliot Watt was handed a four-match ban for his comments on the controversial stoppage-time penalty awarded to Celtic at Fir Park in May.

Watt described the penalty award as the “worst VAR decision in history” on his X account.

Motherwell have also been punished at a disciplinary hearing convened by the Scottish Football Association, which charged both club and player with breaching a rule which forbids criticism which indicates “bias or incompetence” on match officials or impinges on their characters.

Motherwell midfielder Elliot Watt has been banned for four matches. | SNS Group

The Lanarkshire club have been fined £5,000 after being cited in the wake of social media content, which included the phrase “as the world of football mocks our game”.

Motherwell were found guilty of the charge by the disciplinary panel while 26-year-old Watt, who is a serious transfer target of Turkish side Samsunspor, admitted the charge.

A statement from Motherwell read: “The club are extremely disappointed at the outcome of today’s hearing in relation to the Scottish FA’s notice of complaint received by the club.

“The notice of complaint related to a social media post and related video that was published following our last home game of the 2025-26 season.

“The club have requested the written reasons in relation to the decision, and thereafter we will liaise with our external solicitors on any next steps.”

Watt was already due to be suspended for Motherwell’s William Hill Premiership opener at Easter Road, after being sent off in his team’s win there against Hibernian on the final day of last season.

The former Scotland Under-21 international will also be suspended for league games against Falkirk, Aberdeen and St Mirren, plus Well’s Premier Sports Cup opener.

If he remains at Fir Park, Watt would not play a domestic game until September 2, although he could feature in the Conference League.

Rangers manager Derek McInnes was also due to face the same charge over his comments on the penalty incident but his hearing was put back to July 22.

Then Hearts head coach McInnes described referee John Beaton’s decision to award a penalty for handball against Sam Nicholson – on the advice of video assistant Andrew Dallas – as “actually quite disgusting”.

He added after his side’s 3-0 win over Falkirk: “I shouldn’t be commenting on another game but, having seen that, it feels like us against everybody.”

Celtic were facing the challenge of beating leaders Hearts 3-0 on the final day before Kelechi Iheanacho converted the penalty, and they ultimately won the title in the closing moments of the season by overturning a one-point deficit with a 3-1 win.

SFA head of referees Willie Collum later backed the penalty award in his final VAR Review Show of the season.