Ex-SFA official: Reo Hatate should be banned for Celtic v Rangers after ‘horrible’ incident missed by VAR
Celtic midfielder Reo Hatate should be banned from his club’s upcoming Scottish Cup semi-final against Rangers, former SFA referee Steve Conroy believes.
Conroy has accused Hatate of “blatant cheating” after the midfielder threw himself to the ground under no contact in Celtic’s 3-0 quarter-final victory against Hearts on Saturday.
Kevin Clancy, who was the referee in charge of the cup encounter, took no action at the time, with a free-kick awarded to the Bhoys after Orestis Kiomourtzoglou’s foul on Kyogo Furuhashi seconds earlier.
“We have advocated for some time that there should be a retrospective red card issued – and therefore a two-match suspension – for what was blatant cheating,” Conroy told Grosvenor Sport, as transcribed by The Scotsman.
“The anomaly is that VAR can’t get involved because diving is not an ordering-off offence. Reo Hatate has been a terrific player in Scottish football but that was bad.
“It’s a blight and it’s horrible to see and I don’t know why retrospective action is not being taken by the SFA for these offences – they seem to have stopped doing it.”
Old Firm upcoming at Hampden
Celtic have been handed a Scottish Cup semi-final draw against familiar foe Rangers, with the game set to take place at Hampden Park at the end of April.
But former referee Conroy believes Hatate should be banned for two matches following the simulation, meaning he would miss the semi-final and indeed the final – should Celtic get there.
Simulation is only punishable by a yellow card, but Scottish FA rule 201 – which was introduced in 2011 – provides a disciplinary panel with the power to impose two-match bans for acts of simulation missed by match officials.
Rangers eased past Championship outfit Raith Rovers in their Scottish Cup quarter-final on Sunday, with Conor Goldson and Scott Arfield scoring either side of a Ryan Nolan own goal.
The Gers will certainly need to be at their best to overcome their fierce rivals, with the semi-final fixture representing the second meeting between the two clubs in April, with Celtic hosting Rangers in the Scottish Premiership early next month.
In other Rangers news, teenage midfield starlet Bailey Rice is being watched closely by some of Europe’s biggest clubs.