Kris Boyd escaped a two-match ban yesterday after the SFA charge against him for alleged headbutting was ruled not proven.
The Rangers striker faced possible punishment after new SFA compliance officer Tony McGlennan issued a notice of complaint against him after Rangers' 3-1 home defeat by Hibernian at the end of last month.
Boyd clashed with defender Jordon Forster and moved his head towards him when the pair were virtually nose-to-nose. McGlennan offered Boyd an automatic two-game suspension if he admitted violent conduct but the striker chose to contest that and take the case to yesterday's hearing at Hampden.
The independent judicial panel which considered the case found there was not enough evidence against the 31-year-old.
Had the case been upheld he would have missed Rangers' games at home to Raith Rovers on October 18 and away to East Fife three days later but he will now be free to play in those.
Boyd's case was similar to that of the young Hearts midfielder Jamie Walker earlier this season. Walker was also accused of violent conduct by deliberately clashing heads with Lewis Stevenson in the season's opening Edinburgh derby on August 17. The 21-year-old was given a two-match suspension by the SFA for that but, crucially, he accepted the charge without taking the case to a judicial panel.
The decision on Boyd meant only his team-mate, Bilel Mohsni, was punished as a result of the Hibs game. The Tunisian was also cited by McGlennan for swinging an arm at Liam Fontaine moments after Nicky Law had scored Rangers' only goal of the match. Fontaine had knocked the ball out of Mohsni's hands as he ran back to the halfway line for a quick restart.
Mohsni accepted a two-match SFA suspension without going to a hearing. Because of the governing body's disciplinary procedures, the punishment became a three-game ban as a result of his red card in a pre-season friendly at Derby County.
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