The SFA has bowed to pressure from Rangers-haters and formed a lynch mob to railroad Kevin Muscat over an alleged incident with Livingston player Camacho despite the referee not mentioning it in his report - supposedly the only basis for disciplinary action.
Of course this is not the first time the SFA has bent it's rules with regard to Rangers. Amongst anti-Rangers incidents to disgrace the good name of the SFA include the Souness in the tunnel saga, John brown and Ian Ferguson. All incidents where the SFA broke it's own rules.
The Ian Ferguson incident - where he received an extra 3 match ban for spiting on Gordan Petric - was a classic example. It was followed by an identical incident in 2000 when Celtic's Mark Viduka spat on a Dunfermline player at East End Park and the SFA refused point blank to discipline him despite the precedents set with Ferguson.
By bowing to the radio phone-in and internet bigots the SFA has opened a new chapter in corruption and bigotry.
The full SFA statement is as follows:-
SFA PANEL TO REVIEW MUSCAT INCIDENT
20 September 2002
The new SFA Review Panel will act for the first time since it was formed in the summer, to consider an incident involving Kevin Muscat of Rangers.
In last Saturday's match at Livingston, the player appeared to use an arm to strike Livingston player Juanjo Camacho across the head.
A video of the incident is being sent to three members of the panel, who will view the tape before discussing by conference call on Monday afternoon whether or not the player has a case to answer.
If the panel decides to continue the case, it will be referred to the SFA Disciplinary Committee, which next meets on 15 October. The player would be required to appear before the committee.
The SFA introduced the Review Panel as a result of an overhaul of Disciplinary Procedures which took into account, among other things, recommendations made last season by Lord McCluskey, Chairman of the Disciplinary Appeals Tribunal, in relation to the Bobo Balde case. The Panel, which is a sub-committee of the Disciplinary Committee, comprises former players, managers and referees.
Background information:
The procedures relating to Cases of Players' Misconduct and the Review Panel are detailed in full in the SFA Handbook: see pages 262-273.
In summary, the main provisions relating to the Review Panel are:
Acts of misconduct which are regarded as potentially being of a significantly serious nature, and which are brought to notice by means other than a match official's report, will be referred to the Review Panel, with there being two possible outcomes: If it is decided that there is no case to answer, no further action will be taken against the player; if it is decided that there is a case to answer, the matter will be referred to the Disciplinary Committee for investigation and/or consideration.
There is a pool of 12 members (former referees, players, managers) and one member will be chosen from each group to deal with a case. The panel members for season 2002/03 are: (former players) Colin Jackson, Hamish McAlpine, Jackie McNamara and Willie Miller; (former managers) Billy McNeill, Bert Paton, Jocky Scott and Walter Smith; (former referees) Hugh Alexander, Alan Ferguson, Alastair Huett and John Young. The names of panel members involved in a specific case will not be divulged by the SFA, while panel members are not permitted to disclose any details of any case to the media, any player, club or other third party.