MusaRangers have been fined £3,000 by the Scottish Football Association after John Brown called the decision “corrupt” in a Scottish Premier League match against Hibernian.
The former Ibrox player was commenting on Rangers TV when he made the remark.
Rangers looked set to score a second goal when Nico Raskin hit the ball over the line, but Rocky Bushiri then cleared it with a tackle that allowed the ball to continue.
Hibs would then race up the park to equalise. VAR did not intervene as there was no decisive angle to judge whether the ball had definitely crossed the line.
“I would say it’s corrupt,” Brown said during the call.
Commentator Tom Miller warned: “Well, I’m not sure we can actually say that,” before Brown continued: “Yes, I’m saying that.”
The club’s statement read: “The Scottish Football Association’s Adjudicatory Committee has today found Rangers FC to have breached disciplinary rule 38, following a statement made during a match commentary for Hibernian v Rangers in May. The club has been fined £3,000.
“We believe it is important to highlight the wider concerns raised by this finding and the wider implications it has for the clarity and confidence in their regulatory processes.
“John Brown spoke emotionally and spontaneously as someone who cares deeply about the club. His words were not written and were not an official statement from the club. However, the ruling sets a precedent where even spontaneous, edited comments about apparent refereeing errors during live broadcast are sufficient to trigger an official sanction. It is neither consistent nor particularly proportionate across other clubs, nor is the club reporting any consequences.
“As part of our defence today, we have flagged a number of similar incidents on the club’s channels. These incidents raise legitimate questions about the Scottish Football Association’s rules and how consistently they are applied. To our knowledge, none of these cases appear to have resulted in charges being laid against the relevant clubs.
“The lack of consistency in the Scottish Football Association’s oversight of similar incidents leaves more questions than answers. We will therefore be contacting the Scottish Football Association’s Chief Executive and Chairman to clarify what policies and procedures the Compliance Officer has in place, if any, to ensure a consistent and proportionate approach to enforcement and equal treatment of member clubs, consistent across all member states of the Football Association. All clubs and all platforms risk losing the credibility of a fair and enforceable regulator.
“Our aim here is to understand the logic behind the different outcomes. A lack of consistency, or the perception of it, undermines confidence in the disciplinary process and leaves all member clubs uncertain about what is and is not permissible.
“There is still no clear guidance on how clubs are expected to deal with live broadcast content, although we note that the panel acknowledged that the club’s internal editorial guidelines could act as a constructive step for others in the future.
“To be clear, we have referred to these other cases not to suggest that sanctions should be imposed, but to highlight the apparent inconsistency in how similar incidents have been dealt with. Club media is by its very nature passionate and biased. Informal, inflammatory and emotional commentary comes with the territory, particularly in live environments.
“However, by deciding to pursue this case, the Scottish Football Association has opened the door to closer scrutiny of how similar situations are dealt with in the future. If this is now the standard, they will be closely monitored to ensure that it is applied across the board, consistently, without exception and without favouritism.”
Musa
