HIBERNIAN are facing potential SFA disciplinary action for a post about the penalty Rangers were awarded in the cinch Premiership match at Ibrox today which appeared on their official X account.
The Glasgow club were given a spot kick in the first half of the league game in Govan this afternoon after Nectarios Triantis inadvertently caught John Souttar with a flailing forearm inside his own area.
Referee David Dickinson failed to spot the incident at the time, but he was urged to watch a replay of it on his pitchside monitor by VAR official Andrew Dallas over at Clydesdale House.
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Dickinson did so and promptly gave Philippe Clement’s men a spot kick – which David Marshall subsequently saved - and showed Australian defender Triantis a yellow card.
The official Hibs X (formerly Twitter) account immediately posted: "Penalty to Rangers. Who had 20 minutes?"
It was a cheeky dig which suggested it was only a matter of time before the home team were awarded a penalty – however it could land the capital outfit in hot water with Scottish football’s governing body.
The SFA rule book clearly stipulates that clubs cannot include any criticism of match officials which indicates bias or incompetence on the part of a match official in their social media output.
Rule 29.1 states: “A club or recognised football body which publishes, distributes, issues, sells or authorises a third party to publish, distribute, issue or sell a match programme or any other publication or audio/visual material, including but not limited to the internet, social networking or micro-blogging sites, shall be held responsible for all matters contained therein.”
Rule 29.2 goes on to say: “A club shall ensure that any such publications or audio/visual material does not contain any criticism of any match official calculated to indicate bias or incompetence on the part of such match official or to impinge upon his character.”
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BBC Sportsound pundits Michael Stewart and Billy Dodds could not believe the penalty was awarded by referee Dickinson following the VAR check.
Scott Wright netted the rebound after Marshall had saved Tavernier’s attempt – but a VAR check then disallowed the goal for encroachment.
Philippe Clement’s side, who have a game in hand against Dundee still to play, beat Nick Montgomery’s team 3-1 to leapfrog Celtic, who play Livingston at Almondvale tomorrow, into top spot in the Premiership. They are now two points clear of their city rivals.
Hibs, meanwhile, dropped down to seventh place in the table as Dundee defeated St Johnstone 2-1 at McDiarmid Park.
Clement made light of the goal that Rangers had chalked off for Wright entering the box before Tavernier hit the penalty. He said: “We created chances and scored goals. It might have been four but we were unlucky because apparently Scott Wright’s boots are a bit too big.”
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