Exclusive: ‘SFA to take retrospective action’ against Nsiala after Rangers incident
Rangers defender Clinton Nsiala faces retrospective punishment from the SFA for two incidents in the space of a week.
Nsiala, 21, was in disastrous form on Saturday (22 February) as Philippe Clement’s Rangers lost 2-0 at Ibrox to St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership.
For the first St Mirren goal, Nsiala tripped himself over to allow Mikael Mandron the chance to go one-on-one with Jack Butland and score.
And for the away side’s second of the match, the Frenchman’s defending was utterly abject as Toyosi Olusanya won the ball off him to score.
Nsiala faces SFA punishment after simulation in Rangers loss
When Mandron scored St Mirren’s first goal in the 51st minute, Kevin Clancy initially ruled it out before he thought the Buddies star fouled Nsiala.
However, after being told to review the incident on the pitch-side monitor by VAR Grant Irvine, Clancy allowed the goal to stand because Nsiala clearly tripped himself over.
Former Premier League and FIFA-listed referee Keith Hackett noticed Nsiala go down holding his back in a bit to try and deceive the referee.
| Nsiala 2024/25 stats | |
| Appearances | 8 |
| Goals | 1 |
| Assists | 1 |
| Yellow cards | 1 |
“I hope that the premier group of referees under the leadership of Willie Collum are reviewing these incidents and raising their awareness of acts of simulation. This will improve their detection and the need to sanction with a yellow card,” Hackett told Ibrox News.
“Some years ago the Scottish FA under the leadership of Gordon Johnson introduced retrospective action to stop players trying to deceive the referee.
“I suggest that this needs to be done now to stop this player and any other who wants to win penalty kicks by cheating or feigning injury.”
Nsiala guilty of another simulation offence in Rangers win v Hearts
In the 39th minute of Rangers’ 3-1 win at Hearts last week, referee John Beaton awarded Clement’s men a free-kick when Nsiala was adjudged to have been fouled by Adam Forrester.
However, replays showed that Forrester barely touched the former AC Milan centre-back before he went down and started rolling around and writhing in apparent agony on the pitch.
Hackett was unhappy with Nsiala on that occasion and now the fact that he’s a repeat offender means that the SFA may have some action to take on the Ibrox defender.