Alfredo Morelos third Celtic Park booking raises a lot of questions

By Hamish Carton

January 17, 2020

Celtic are back from their winter break this weekend, although the fall-out from our last game is somehow still rumbling on.

Last night the report came through (via the Scottish Sun) that Rangers hot-head Alfredo Morelos had been booked a third time at Celtic Park.

The incident in question came after the Colombian had been sent-off following an embarrassing dive at the feet of Olivier Ntcham in the closing stages of the match.

Alfredo Morelos is sent off (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

He walked off the Parkhead pitch making an “inflammatory gesture” to the Celtic support on his way.

The Sun say that the forward was handed “the equivalent of a post-match yellow card” by referee Kevin Clancy because the gesture in question was “considered to be an act of unsporting behaviour.”

Rangers forward Alfredo Morelos (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Morelos should be further punished for Celtic Park behaviour

While the bizarrely timed scoop may satisfy some supporters, it does still leave a number of questions unanswered.

Firstly, why has this information only been released now? The game happened three weeks ago and the speculation has been rife since.

Surely this information would have been best served being released in the days after the game.

Also, why does this third yellow automatically mean that Morelos is off the hook?

Surely another caution on top of his red card should mean he faces further punishment, especially as the referee is deemed to have seen the incident.

Referee Kevin Clancy (Photo by VI Images via Getty Images)

It all seems very messy from the SFA. The timing is bizarre and the fact we heard nothing from anyone about this until now reeks of some sort of controversy.

Rather than make a telling decision one way or the other, they have used this as a bit of a cop-out.

And that is pretty disappointing.