Meekings ban overturned



The 22-year-old Englishman was served with a Scottish FA notice of complaint and offered of a one-game suspension after officials failed to see his handball in Sunday's 3-2 semi-final win over Celtic at Hampden Park.

However, an independent three-man judicial panel tribunal met at the national stadium and dismissed the case with "no suspension applied".

Inverness chairman Kenny Cameron released a statement which read: "The club is delighted for Josh that the judicial panel tribunal dismissed the complaint brought against him.

"Josh will now be available for selection for the Cup final on 30th May 2015 v Falkirk FC.

"The result means that the club can now fully appreciate the achievement of reaching its first ever Scottish Cup Final and focus on preparations for Saturday's game versus Aberdeen FC.

"On a personal note, both Josh and I would like to express our gratitude to our legal team from Harper Macleod led by partner David Kerr, who worked tirelessly to ensure a favourable outcome."

PFA Scotland chief executive Fraser Wishart had warned the SFA that it was creating a dangerous precedent by citing the Caley Thistle centre-back.

Speaking shortly before the outcome, Wishart said: "I think you have seen this week from the reaction of players across the country, players have no problem with video evidence being used for incidents that have genuinely haven't been seen by the referee

Maybe a punch behind the referee's back and fly kick when the ball is away.

"But we think, if the rule has been extended, then it is now erring into re-refereeing a game on a Monday.

"That's not the purpose of video evidence

That's why the English FA and FIFA and UEFA steer away from that

The referee could see the incident on Sunday - he just didn't see the handball.

"I feel for the referees because their performance is now being analysed to the nth degree and I don't think that's fair on them."

The former Motherwell and Rangers defender said: "This regulation changed just to take care of violent incidents.

"But when this was mooted to me 18 months ago, I did warn the SFA that I felt it was going too far

Originally it was about a tackle that the referee could see but just couldn't see the contact.

"If you are going to legislate for every single incident, you are going to find yourself in murky waters

I did put that opinion forward, that it was going to cause more problems than it solves

You can't just react to one incident and change the rules to suit.

"Sadly for Josh Meekings, he has been caught up in this storm."

Source : PA

Source: PA