Celtic central defender Bobo Balde is to appeal against the suspension meted out to him yesterday by the SFA. The hugely influential defender should now be available to play in the Scottish cup tie with Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Monday night.
Celtic Chief Executive Ian McLeod had this to say on the matter:
"I confirm that our player Dianbobo Balde has today submitted an appeal
against yesterday's decision of the SFA Disciplinary Committee. He has done so because he considers that the hearing of his case and the penalties
imposed upon him did not comply with the SFA Articles and Disciplinary
Procedures.
"Celtic is, of course, of the view that improper behaviour by players is an
unacceptable facet of the game. However, the club supports Bobo's decision to appeal in this case because there would appear to have been a number of serious irregularities in the handling of the matter by the SFA
Disciplinary Committee, which resulted in the player not being given a fair
hearing."
Depending on when the SFA arrange a new hearing, Balde could also be available for the old firm league game on Sunday week.
This decision by Celtic could be seen as being rather hypocritical by Celtic given that they have already fined the defender two weeks wages for the incident that led to the suspension. However, Celtic were fully entitled to appeal regardless of any action they have already taken. In a similar situation last season Rangers exploited the same situation to avoid a Fernando Ricksen suspension and later dropped the appeal once Celtic had run away with all three domestic trophies.