Celtic stated they did not challenge the four-match suspension received by Lennon over his clash with Rangers assistant boss Ally McCoist to take into consideration "the wider interests of the club and Scottish football".

But they also declared that Lennon would be serving the ban concurrently with an earlier suspension, also four matches, the second of which was tonight's Scottish Cup clash at Inverness. The SFA's position is understood to be that both bans will run consecutively, meaning Lennon would sit out a total of eight matches.

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Lennon's first ban came following his dismissal against Hearts in November, and subsequent reaction, which saw his automatic ban doubled for "excessive misconduct" in a decision finally reached following an appeal earlier this month.

His second ban was triggered automatically when he was charged with misconduct following his angry reaction to comments made by McCoist at the end of Celtic's 1-0 Scottish Cup win on March 2.

Celtic tonight issued a statement on their official website, which read: "Celtic Football Club confirms that Neil Lennon has not challenged the imposition of an automatic four-match suspension arising from the Celtic v Rangers match on March 2.

"Neil and the club have decided, in the wider interests of the club and Scottish football, not to appeal against the imposition of the ban, or the reasons for it.

"In accordance with the SFA's disciplinary procedures and the SFA's original intimation of the ban issued on March 9, Neil will be serving this suspension concurrently with his existing suspension.

"He will therefore not be in the dugout for the four Celtic first-team matches from and including the game against Inverness Caledonian Thistle this evening."

The differing interpretations of the bans mean Celtic and the SFA are set for another dispute in a season of tension between the organisations.

The pair have clashed over referees, most notably when the SFA failed to act against Dougie McDonald following his confession he lied to Lennon over the circumstances surrounding his decision to rescind a penalty for Celtic.

Celtic have also complained about the disciplinary procedures, although SFA chief executive Stewart Regan has vowed to reform the system.

Rangers earlier appealed against the two-match ban handed to McCoist for his part in the disagreement.

The Celtic manager was handed double the punishment of McCoist given it was his second offence in the relevant period.