THE Falkirk manager Peter Houston says he was delighted that Josh Meekings was cleared to play in the Scottish Cup final.
Meekings was charged by the Scottish Football Association compliance officer Tony McGlennan following Inverness's stunning 3-2 semi-final extra-time victory over Celtic on April 19.
Leigh Griffiths' goal-bound header struck the Englishman's arm but neither the referee Seven McLean nor his assistants saw the incident.
The SFA was widely criticised for trying to take retrospective action, with FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce warning that it would open up a can or worms.
But a SFA three-man judicial panel dismissed the charge last Thursday, leaving Meekings free to face Houston's Falkirk at Hampden on May 30.
Houston said: "I sent a text big Yogi [Inverness manager John Hughes] when I heard it was going to come to it; I said, 'for me, it would be wrong'. I am 100 per cent with Josh Meekings playing. It's an opportunity for a guy who might not have seen the final for something that happened after a match. If there was going to be action taken, it should have happened during the game. I'm delighted for the boy because Scottish Cup finals don't come along often in players' careers. For him to miss it through that, I would have been gutted for the lad."
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