SFA Responds to Rangers Over John Brown TV Remarks

The Scottish Football Association (SFA) has issued a statement defending its disciplinary decisions and addressing recent comments made by Rangers Football Club. Rangers were fined £3,000 after a hearing found they violated rule 38, which prohibits clubs from making comments that suggest bias or incompetence by match officials or harm their reputation.

The controversy arose when former Rangers player and media pundit John Brown suggested that a decision not to award Rangers a goal at Easter Road was “corrupt” amid a contentious debate over whether the ball crossed the line. Rangers criticized the SFA, claiming they had highlighted multiple similar incidents on their channels and questioned inconsistencies in how disciplinary actions are applied.

The SFA responded by noting that they had imposed a six-match touchline ban on Motherwell’s Richard Foster last September after he called a controversial Rangers goal “lies” on BBC. They stated that investigations into other incidents outlined by Rangers resulted in warnings rather than harsher penalties, emphasizing their approach as proportional and consistent since 2011.

The governing body reaffirmed that the disciplinary sanctions were appropriate and explained that such measures aim to protect officials from sustained criticism, especially following the referee strike of 2010. The SFA also indicated that Rangers intends to seek further clarity on proper procedures and has active representation within their disciplinary working group.

They concluded by assuring transparency, clarifying they will publish the written reasons for the tribunal’s decision in due course, and reinforcing that penalties are applied fairly based on the nature of the violations.

His remarks followed a controversial decision not to award Rangers a goal against Hibernian, which fueled further debate about officiating standards and disciplinary consistency.