Rangers want Scottish FA meeting after Key Match Incident panel findings from Celtic defeat revealed

The Key Match Incident panel believe Auston Trusty should have been sent off after a clash with Jack Butland during Celtic’s League Cup win over Rangers; the Ibrox side already met the SFA to discuss incidents from the Hampden loss but want more talks over accountability and consistency

 

 

Rangers have requested a meeting with the Scottish FA as the fallout to their League Cup semi-final defeat to Celtic continues.

An Ibrox source has told Sky Sports News the club believes Friday’s Key Match Incident report has validated the concerns they raised with the SFA following the Hampden Park clash.

KMI findings outlined that referee Nick Walsh was incorrect to book Celtic’s Auston Trusty for a kick on goalkeeper Jack Butland’s head – with the decision deemed worthy of a red by a two-to-one majority.

The panel, which said the other major decisions in the clash were correct, added that VAR should have instructed an on-field review to overturn the decision once a yellow was awarded.

 

 

Rangers had already met the SFA last Monday but said in a statement they were “unsatisfied” with the explanation received over that incident and the VAR review, with the club adding that “too many important matches continue to be influenced by calls that are inconsistent and difficult to justify”.

Now, it is understood that Rangers believe the KMI findings add to their view that a number of key decisions have lacked consistency.

A club source also told Sky Sports News that they have “been reviewing officiating trends across multiple campaigns and see the latest incident as part of a broader pattern rather than an isolated mistake”.

Meanwhile, Trusty said: “I tapped him and obviously it wasn’t… I didn’t boot him in the head.

“No one means to boot somebody in the head or kick somebody in the head. I obviously tapped him in the head and that’s all it was.

“I didn’t really think anything much of it. I obviously was apologetic and you’d see my hands to him and say sorry, no matter rivalry or whatever it is, that’s not the kind of human I am.

 

 

“I think it’s just Rangers vs Celtic. I think no matter whatever side has a positive result, the other side’s going to say whatever.

“It’s just how football works, you know, in this country and from this rivalry. I don’t think you can really escape that.”