CELTIC'S relations with the Scottish Football Association are at a low after the club expressed "amazement" at the failure of their appeal against Scott Brown's Old Firm dismissal.
Officials at the Parkhead club hit out at the SFA, and the refereeing fraternity in particular, for the third time in little over a week after Dougie McDonald upheld his own decision to send off Brown in the 1-0 defeat by Rangers.
McDonald had been under added pressure going into the Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash after an unnamed Celtic source expressed the club's concern and frustration over refereeing decisions that had gone against them this season.
And Celtic appeared to question his impartiality, or at least his judgment, when the club claimed no "fair-minded" person would agree Brown deserved his red card for his clash with Kyle Lafferty.
McDonald agreed with himself though after viewing video footage of the second-half incident during a game which put a huge dent in Celtic's title hopes as Rangers went 10 points clear with a game in hand following Maurice Edu's injury-time winner.
Brown is now suspended for Sunday's trip to Falkirk and will miss two more SPL matches this month, against St Johnstone and St Mirren, after going through a disciplinary threshold.
Celtic responded with shock at the decision and criticised the SFA's appeals procedure, which stop at the referee if he is satisfied with his original decision.
A statement on Celtic's website last night read: "We are amazed at this decision and believe it is the wrong one.
"Given the general consensus that the initial decision was incorrect and the availability of supporting video evidence, at the very least, the incident should have been referred to a separate review panel.
"Naturally, we are very disappointed that this simple opportunity was not taken.
"Clearly, it is also very disappointing that Scottish Football Association rules do not permit this decision to be appealed."
SFA president George Peat last week confirmed discussions over referees had taken place with Celtic, whose chief executive Peter Lawwell later said that he looked forward to those talks continuing towards a positive outcome.
However, the gulf between the two parties has since widened yet further with Celtic's latest statement.
McDonald had been under added pressure going into the Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash after an unnamed Celtic source expressed the club's concern and frustration over refereeing decisions that had gone against them this season.
And Celtic appeared to question his impartiality, or at least his judgment, when the club claimed no "fair-minded" person would agree Brown deserved his red card for his clash with Kyle Lafferty.
McDonald agreed with himself though after viewing video footage of the second-half incident during a game which put a huge dent in Celtic's title hopes as Rangers went 10 points clear with a game in hand following Maurice Edu's injury-time winner.
Brown is now suspended for Sunday's trip to Falkirk and will miss two more SPL matches this month, against St Johnstone and St Mirren, after going through a disciplinary threshold.
Celtic responded with shock at the decision and criticised the SFA's appeals procedure, which stop at the referee if he is satisfied with his original decision.
A statement on Celtic's website last night read: "We are amazed at this decision and believe it is the wrong one.
"Given the general consensus that the initial decision was incorrect and the availability of supporting video evidence, at the very least, the incident should have been referred to a separate review panel.
"Naturally, we are very disappointed that this simple opportunity was not taken.
"Clearly, it is also very disappointing that Scottish Football Association rules do not permit this decision to be appealed."
SFA president George Peat last week confirmed discussions over referees had taken place with Celtic, whose chief executive Peter Lawwell later said that he looked forward to those talks continuing towards a positive outcome.
However, the gulf between the two parties has since widened yet further with Celtic's latest statement.
Copyright (c) Press Association
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