FIFA VP Jim Boyce, the head of the body's refereeing committee, said on Wednesday that a Scottish FA ruling that is "likely to see a player banned from the Scottish Cup final for a handball the referee missed is wrong and could set a dangerous precedent," according to Mike Collett of REUTERS. Inverness Caledonian Thistle defender Josh Meekings handled the ball
with the score at 1-0 during Sunday's semifinal against Celtic, which
Inverness won 3-2. Referee Steven
McLean and his assistants "all missed the incident," but the Scottish FA's compliance officer Tony McGlennan issued a "notice of complaint"
following an appeal by Celtic on Monday. The
Scottish FA offered Meekings and Inverness a one-match ban "to be served
in the final," which the club has rejected. It has "appealed against
the notice and a hearing has been convened for Thursday." However, Boyce said that he was "totally opposed to the intervention by the compliance officer." He said, "It is a totally
different matter if someone has gone over the top, or committed a serious foul, or head-butted someone and the referee has missed it. Those are disciplinary issues. But what happened here is
that the referee has made a mistake regarding a handball and that's the
end of it. There is no way the player should now be disciplined for
that" (REUTERS, 4/21).
