Aberdeen manager Stephen Glass has been handed a one-game touchline ban by the Scottish Football Association following his dismissal in last weekend’s defeat by Dundee United.
The Dons boss was red-carded by referee Bobby Madden in the tunnel at half-time at Tannadice following a stormy first half in which both sides had a player sent off.
Glass was cited for “misconduct” by the SFA on Friday and faces a hearing on December 16.
Meanwhile, Aberdeen have expressed their “dismay” that the SFA were unable to use their “discretionary powers” to overturn Funso Ojo’s dismissal for a second bookable offence at Tannadice, after the Dons midfielder appeared to be pushed by a United supporter.
In a statement on Aberdeen’s website, director of football Steven Gunn said: “As we understand it, the referee and the SFA’s head of refereeing operations, immediately after seeing replays of the footage, recognised that the referee had been mistakenly advised by his assistant referee that it was Funso that had pushed a spectator rather than the other way around.
“As a result, Funso was given a second caution. Pushing a spectator is, in fact, a sending-off offence which would have given us a right of appeal.
“We don’t doubt that, had the referee been aware of the correct facts, he would have taken every step to protect Funso given the circumstances. The club fully recognises that mistakes happen.
“We are dismayed that the Scottish FA, despite their sympathy with the club and the player, have not taken a common sense approach that in this case would have been unlikely to be disputed by anyone in football.
“They have instead chosen to stick rigidly to the rules which prevent any meaningful discussion to remedy this when we believe it would have been within their discretionary powers to do so.”
Dons chairman Dave Cormack added: “While the SFA have been sympathetic they were not willing to take any action mid-season that would provide us with the opportunity to appeal the yellow card to the judicial panel. We have been advised that they will explore a rule amendment for next season, which we welcome, but which won’t help the club and Funso this time.
“Naturally, we are very disappointed with this outcome because we believe that discretionary powers can and should be used to address and remedy rare situations such as the one in which we found ourselves last Saturday.
“In going through this process, it has been refreshing to know that Bobby Madden and the refereeing fraternity wanted to come out publicly and accept they got this decision wrong. A stronger relationship between clubs and referees, one where Scottish football is open to change and transparency with supporters, can only be seen as a positive step.”
