Aberdeen slam SFA for 'ridiculously harsh' Graeme Shinnie ruling
The Scottish FA hit the midfielder with an extra ban after a failed appeal against his red card
Last updated 19th Apr 2023
Aberdeen have hit out at the Scottish FA after Graeme Shinnie was handed an extra ban following their appeal against his recent red card.
The midfielder was sent off during Friday night's match against Ross County in Dingwall for a challenge on Jack Baldwin.
Shinnie was initially handed a three match ban - two for serious foul play and another for it being his second red card of the campaign.
However, another match has now been added to that after Aberdeen failed in their appeal against the decision.
The Scottish FA can do this if the claim either had no prospect of success, was an “abuse of process or a delaying tactic” or was deemed to be “frivolous”.
Aberdeen issued a furious reponse to the ruling on Tuesday night.
A club statement said: "In the cold light of day, we very carefully considered the decision to appeal Graeme Shinnie’s red card at last Friday’s game against Ross County.
"We eventually decided to appeal in the belief that it had merit and a chance of success after watching the footage numerous times, listening to the various professional pundits on the matter and discussing it with the player and the manager.
"In setting out our appeal, we also reviewed similar tackles in the Scottish Premiership in the last six months where at least two players, who have unintentionally caught an opponent in the follow through of a tackle and were red-carded after VAR reviews, have had their ban over-turned on appeal and their suspensions quashed.
"Each appeal is heard on its own merits, which means that no prior case/appeal decisions are considered. The legal system for hundreds of years has used and relied upon prior cases as evidence. We believe that the omission of these key prior appeal findings will continue to affect consistency of decision-making.
"Scottish FA rules prohibit us from commenting publicly on such decisions, but having been accused of presenting a frivolous appeal our supporters need to know that this is not only insulting to the Club but grossly unfair and entirely untrue. To add a further match ban seems ridiculously harsh and unnecessary.
"We are publicly asking the Scottish FA to urgently review our appeal with a new panel."
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