Rangers winger Ryan Kent faces a two-match ban after being cited for lashing out at Celtic captain Scott Brown.
The Scottish Football Association issued a notice of complaint to the on-loan Liverpool player accusing him of committing a red-card offence in Sunday’s derby match, which finished 2-1 for Celtic.
Kent knocked Brown to the ground with a clenched fist in the wake of James Forrest’s winning goal. Referee Bobby Madden and his fellow match officials appeared to miss the incident.
Kent and his club have until 3pm on Wednesday to respond to the charge, which came after three former match officials unanimously declared he should be punished for the incident.
If the 22-year-old accepts the charge, he will miss Wednesday’s visit of Hearts and Sunday’s trip to Motherwell in the Ladbrokes Premiership. If he challenges it, a fast-track tribunal will take place on Thursday and he will be free to face Hearts.
Kent was the only player to be hit with fast-track proceedings by the 3pm deadline on Tuesday.
However, the Scottish Football Association compliance officer could still raise other notices of complaint at a later date.
Both clubs could be accused of breaching rule 204, “where three or more players and/or members of team staff from one team are involved in a confrontation with opposing players and/or members of team staff of the opposing team during and/or directly after a match”. Any punishment would involve a fine.
Rangers pair Andy Halliday and Wes Foderingham and Celtic defender Mikael Lustig all received post-match yellow cards after a melee in the immediate aftermath of the final whistle.
Inverness and Ross County both received a £2,500 fine for breaching rule 204 last month following an incident during a recent Highland derby, while Hearts and Hibernian saw similar cases dismissed after being cited six days after an Edinburgh derby in October.
Halliday had already been booked and will miss Wednesday’s game against Hearts along with Alfredo Morelos, who is suspended for four matches after receiving his fifth red card of the season following an elbow on Brown.
The Celtic captain later posted a photograph of him laughing at Morelos following the Colombian’s red card on social media with fishing emojis underneath and Rangers boss Steven Gerrard told his players to remember the message.
Gerrard said: “That’s all part and parcel of being involved in the Old Firm. Celtic are entitled to celebrate – the supporters, the club, the individual players. It’s fine, we haven’t got a problem with that at all.
“We are on the other end of it this time. There is one more Old Firm left that we are looking forward to, and we need to make sure that the result of that game is different.
“I know what I’d do but we will wait and see how my players react. We will see that on Wednesday first and foremost and for me it’s important they focus on Hearts because we can’t control what’s going on in social media or other people’s reactions and how they celebrate.
“All you can do is look in, soak it up, accept it and move on. But remember it.”
