Derek McInnes faces being banned from the touchline in his opening home video games as Rangers supervisor after being hit with a disciplinary cost over criticism of match officers.
McInnes has been cited by the Scottish Soccer Affiliation compliance officer over remarks made within the wake of Motherwell’s late defeat by Celtic within the penultimate fixture of final season.
The then Hearts boss had criticised the penalty resolution which led to Celtic’s match-winner with the final kick of the sport. Hearts had been in a closely-contested Scottish Premiership title race with Celtic on the time, which they finally misplaced on the ultimate day of the season at their title rivals.
If discovered responsible, McInnes would miss Rangers’ Scottish Premiership opener at Dundee United, which is dwell on Sky Sports activities on July 31 – and will then miss an extra three fixtures.
Motherwell and Fir Park midfielder Elliot Watt have additionally been issued with the identical cost.
Motherwell face a positive of between £1,000 and £100,000 if discovered responsible whereas the minimal punishment for people is a four-match ban.
They’ve all been accused of breaching a rule which forbids criticism which signifies “bias or incompetence” on match officers or impinges on their characters.
McInnes described referee John Beaton’s resolution to award a penalty for handball in opposition to Sam Nicholson – on the recommendation of video assistant Andrew Dallas – as “actually quite disgusting”.
He added after his facet’s 3-0 win over Falkirk: “I shouldn’t be commenting on another game, but having seen that, it feels like us against everybody.”
Celtic had been dealing with the problem of beating leaders Hearts 3-0 on the ultimate day earlier than Kelechi Iheanacho transformed the penalty they usually in the end received the title within the closing moments of the season by overturning a one-point deficit and coming from behind with a 3-1 win.
Motherwell have been cited as a membership within the wake of social media content material, which included the phrase “as the world of football mocks our game”.
Watt described the penalty award because the “worst VAR decision in history” on his X account.
All three hearings will probably be heard on July 16 by a judicial panel convened by the SFA.
Rangers’ opening 2026/27 Scottish Premiership fixtures
July
31: Dundee United (a) – 8pm, dwell on Sky Sports activities
August
9: Hibernian (h) – 4pm
22: St Mirren (h) – 3pm
29: Aberdeen (a) – 3pm
September
2: Falkirk (a) – 7.45pm
5: Motherwell (h) – 3pm
20: Celtic (a) – 12pm, dwell on Sky Sports activities
