GORDON Smith has revealed Craig Levein will have complete control over disciplining his Scotland players as the Scottish Football Association bid to avoid a repeat of the 'Boozegate' farce.
SFA chief executive Smith admitted there had been "confusion" in the wake of the decision to hand lifetime bans to Barry Ferguson and Allan McGregor for flicking V-signs at photographers in April last year, days after the pair indulged in an early-hours drinking session.
There were mixed messages at the time over whether then-manager George Burley was fully behind the judgment, while the players' suspensions were effectively lifted once Burley was sacked in November.
Smith told the News of the World: "The manager is now responsible for all disciplinary aspects of the team. Craig will decide any things like that which arise in future.
"Coming from the football side of it, I think it is something the manager should be dealing with. As soon as you take it upstairs, it leads to confusion.
"The manager should have total control over disciplinary measures, even from the point of view of saying to a guy, 'You're not going to be picked for the rest of this campaign'.
"The last manager had an input into it, but the decision over Ferguson and McGregor was a board of directors' decision and I felt it should go back to the manager.
"I'm not sure it undermined the manager the last time, but this is a decision which was put in place before Craig arrived."
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Meanwhile, Smith has scheduled talks with his England, Wales and Northern Ireland counterparts at today's European Championship draw to co-ordinate opposition to plans to make competitive home nations matches available on terrestrial TV.
An independent report convened by former Football Association executive director David Davies recommended all qualifying games should be free-to-air.
The SFA recently signed a new deal with Sky Sports worth £50million over four years and Smith fears losing this cash could have terrible consequences for the grassroots game in Scotland.
He told the Sunday Herald: "The fact someone can look at our matches and dictate the fact we should be free-to-air causes us major concerns.
"It is causing major ructions in sport and we are going to have discussions amongst our fellow British associations.
"We will have a chat about it in terms of how we go forward because all of us are totally affected by this and totally against it.
"The only option we have got is to try to put our case across.
"We need to try and show how much affect this is going to have, in terms of the grassroots coaching and initiatives we do. All of a sudden, if it gets listed, you get a monopoly.
"Apparently they did a survey and four out of five wanted free-to-air. Well, I've done a survey and five out of five people also want free public transport."
There were mixed messages at the time over whether then-manager George Burley was fully behind the judgment, while the players' suspensions were effectively lifted once Burley was sacked in November.
Smith told the News of the World: "The manager is now responsible for all disciplinary aspects of the team. Craig will decide any things like that which arise in future.
"Coming from the football side of it, I think it is something the manager should be dealing with. As soon as you take it upstairs, it leads to confusion.
"The manager should have total control over disciplinary measures, even from the point of view of saying to a guy, 'You're not going to be picked for the rest of this campaign'.
"The last manager had an input into it, but the decision over Ferguson and McGregor was a board of directors' decision and I felt it should go back to the manager.
"I'm not sure it undermined the manager the last time, but this is a decision which was put in place before Craig arrived."
(re-opens)
Meanwhile, Smith has scheduled talks with his England, Wales and Northern Ireland counterparts at today's European Championship draw to co-ordinate opposition to plans to make competitive home nations matches available on terrestrial TV.
An independent report convened by former Football Association executive director David Davies recommended all qualifying games should be free-to-air.
The SFA recently signed a new deal with Sky Sports worth £50million over four years and Smith fears losing this cash could have terrible consequences for the grassroots game in Scotland.
He told the Sunday Herald: "The fact someone can look at our matches and dictate the fact we should be free-to-air causes us major concerns.
"It is causing major ructions in sport and we are going to have discussions amongst our fellow British associations.
"We will have a chat about it in terms of how we go forward because all of us are totally affected by this and totally against it.
"The only option we have got is to try to put our case across.
"We need to try and show how much affect this is going to have, in terms of the grassroots coaching and initiatives we do. All of a sudden, if it gets listed, you get a monopoly.
"Apparently they did a survey and four out of five wanted free-to-air. Well, I've done a survey and five out of five people also want free public transport."
Copyright (c) Press Association
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