New Rangers manager Derek McInnes gets four-match ban for Celtic penalty remarks
Then-Hearts boss railed at ‘disgusting’ VAR decision SFA punishment means ban for start of new season The new Rangers manager Derek McInnes is poised to begin the season in the stands after being handed a four-match ban for his comments on Celtic’s...
New Rangers manager Derek McInnes will begin the new Scottish season serving a four-match ban after the Scottish Football Association punished him for comments he made about a disputed Celtic penalty last season, according to a monitored public feed.
McInnes, who was then in charge of Hearts, criticised a stoppage-time VAR decision that awarded Celtic a penalty at Motherwell, describing it as “disgusting.” The incident was significant in the Scottish Premiership title race, with the spot-kick proving crucial to Celtic’s campaign.
On Wednesday, the SFA confirmed that McInnes would be banned for four matches, with one of those games suspended until the end of the season. The sanction means the new Rangers boss is poised to watch the opening stages of the campaign from the stands rather than the touchline.
The punishment adds an early complication to McInnes’s Rangers tenure, coming before he has taken charge of a competitive match as manager. It also underlines the governing body’s willingness to act over public criticism of refereeing and VAR decisions in Scottish football.
The report is based on a monitored public feed and is attributed to The Guardian Football. Source: The Guardian Football - https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jul/22/new-rangers-manager-derek-mcinnes-gets-four-match-ban-for-celtic-penalty-remarks
