ONE of world football’s most influential decision makers has branded Josh Meekings’ cup final ban a ‘ludicrous injustice’ and urged the SFA to back down today before the matter is taken out of their hands.
FIFA vice president Jim Boyce launched a blistering attack on Hampden’s sixth floor when he waded into the row that has seen the Inverness defender hit with a retrospective suspension for a blunder made by the match officials in Sunday’s semi-final win over Celtic.
Meekings has been left heartbroken by the unprecedented decision of compliance officer Tony McGlennan to punish him for the handball missed by ref Stevie McLean and goalline assistant Alan Muir. The defender is expected to appear at Hampden today in the hope of having the charge thrown out.
Now Boyce insists FIFA could force the SFA into a U-turn unless Meekings is freed to play against Falkirk on May 30. In an exclusive interview with Record Sport Boyce said: “This decision to suspend the player is setting a very, very dangerous precedent.
“I’m surprised it’s happened and I don’t think it’s ever happened anywhere else.
“FIFA allow associations to make their own decisions but if this decision stands and Inverness feel it is unjust they would have every right to bring this matter up with the powers that be at FIFA.
“Obviously I can’t say what decision they would make but the club do have the power to take it to FIFA if they feel it is unjust and I personally do feel it is unjust.
“It’s not just a mess, it’s absolutely ludicrous. I watch football week in week out and see similar incidents all the time. I can understand Celtic’s frustration at feeling they should have had a penalty but the same thing has happened to every club.
“I’m also in favour of using disciplinary evidence if someone deliberately elbows an opponent or goes over the top looking to deliberately injure an opponent. These are different things altogether.
“But to go through this every time someone handles a ball? To make a decision like this? Maybe I’m being strong here but I do find it astonishing.”
Boyce – who also heads FIFA’s refereeing committee – insists the only justifiable targets of retrospective action from the SFA are the team of officials who failed to award Celtic with a stonewall spot-kick.
He added: “There were six of them in charge of that match and none of them saw it as a penalty. If the decision was wrong – and I’m not denying it should have been a penalty – then it’s the officials who should be brought to task.
“If the SFA want to take action then do what other associations have done and leave those officials out of the next match.”
Boyce also warned the SFA to proceed with caution if they are considering defending McGlennan’s intervention by claiming not one of the six officials actually managed to see the first-half flashpoint.
He said: “That would be even more ridiculous.
“Situations like this happen week in week out where referees and officials make mistakes. I don’t know if anyone has spoken to the referee – maybe he thinks he didn’t make a mistake – but that’s a different issue altogether.
“In my opinion, if the officials in charge of that semi-final were deemed not to have done their jobs properly then there’s a method to deal with them.”
Boyce backed Celtic’s right to fire off a letter to the SFA demanding an explanation for the failure to award the penalty.
But he said: “It’s beyond the cause of anyone to query the referee’s honesty and integrity. That would be a very dangerous thing to do unless they have absolute proof that something is wrong.
“I know some people may think it wasn’t given because it was Celtic but I totally disagree with that. I’d like to think the people in charge of that game were honest people who made an honest mistake.
“Every club has the right to write to the association querying if they are not happy with the performance of a referee. I’m not decrying that right.
“But if any action is taken then it should be taken against the referee, not against the player.”
Former SFA compliance officer Vincent Lunny believes Inverness have little chance of overturning the ban that will see Meekings miss the final.
He said: “I think it will be an uphill struggle, especially after John Hughes’s comments on the radio earlier this week saying that it was a sending-off matter.
“They’ve got to try to argue that it wasn’t an obvious goalscoring opportunity, which is going to be a tough one.
“The fact the compliance officer thinks it’s a sending-off offence suggests the referee has got it wrong.”
