No further sanction for Lennon over Ibrox dismissal

Football Writer

Friday 20 April 2012

NEIL LENNON, the Celtic manager, has received a two-game touchline ban for comments made following his side's Scottish Communities League Cup final defeat to Kilmarnock last month.

Neil Lennon will serve a two-match touchline ban

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Graeme Macpherson

Lennon was critical of Willie Collum's decision not to award Celtic a late penalty when Anthony Stokes collided with Michael Nelson, branding the decision "criminal".

At Hampden yesterday, a three-man tribunal found Lennon guilty of breaching rule 68 of the Scottish Football Association's judicial panel protocol relating to "making comments in an interview which criticise the performance of a match official in such a way as to indicate bias or incompetence".

Lennon also faced a second charge yesterday for an incident at half-time in the recent Old Firm match at Ibrox when the Northern Irishman was sent off by Calum Murray in the tunnel and had to watch the second half on television. Murray and Iain Brines, the fourth official at that match, Johan Mjallby, the Celtic assistant manager, and first-team coach Alan Thompson all gave evidence yesterday and it was decided that being denied access to the dug-out for the second half of the game was sufficient punishment. "The Tribunal imposed no further sanction on the basis that the half-game served outwith the technical area was sufficient," read a statement on the SFA's website.There is no right of appeal, meaning Lennon will be in the stand for Sunday's match away to Motherwell at Fir Park, as well as the final Old Firm game of the season, at Celtic Park the following Sunday. Lennon could face fresh charges following his side's recent William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final defeat by Hearts when he ran on to the field to confront referee Euan Norris, angered by the decision to award Hearts a last-minute penalty. Lennon did not speak to the media after the match but Thompson confirmed that the Northern Irishman had been to the referee's room. Lennon later commented on events via his Twitter account, stating he felt that some decisions against team had been "personal". Lennon was also written to by Vincent Lunny, the SFA's compliance officer, demanding an explanation for comments made about referees ahead of his team's league match against St Johnstone earlier this month. That case is scheduled to be dealt with at a future date although there are suggestions the matter may be dropped.A spokesperson for Celtic added: "We can confirm that we are satisfied with the fairness and spirit of the hearing today and that no appeal will be made against the findings or sanctions."

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No further sanction for Lennon over Ibrox dismissal

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