KIKMARNOCK STRIKER KYLE Lafferty could face a 10-match ban after he admitted letting himself and his club down with his use of sectarian language.
Lafferty has received a club fine after a video, which appeared on social media, showed the former Rangers and Hearts striker making reference to a “pack of Fenian bastards” after a man posing for a photo with him said “Up the Celts”.
The 35-year-old faces a Scottish Football Association tribunal on 20 October accused of not acting in the best interests of football and breaching a rule which forbids the use of insulting language which includes reference to the likes of ethnic origin, race, nationality, religion or belief.
SFA rules state that the punishment for the latter is a mandatory minimum 10-match ban which can only be reduced “where exceptional circumstances are established”.
Kyle Lafferty good man pic.twitter.com/wnBT23C95m
— ggggggg (@ggggggg19769441) September 21, 2022
Killie announced their internal investigation into the incident had been concluded shortly after the SFA charges were announced.
A statement added: “The club can confirm that Kyle regrets his actions and acknowledges that he has let down himself, his family, the club and the supporters.
“Kilmarnock Football Club has subsequently taken internal action, including the serving of a substantial fine.
“The club has also engaged Scotland’s leading anti-sectarian charity, Nil By Mouth, which will work closely with Kyle on a one-to-one basis, in addition to delivering training to our first team squad and academy squad members, to provide education which the charity believes is key to tackling sectarianism in society.
“Kyle has also committed to supporting the club’s community projects which will see him participating in Nil by Mouth’s educational initiatives, in addition to serving Kilmarnock’s ‘Football for All’ programmes on a weekly basis for the foreseeable future.”
The club added they would co-operate fully with the SFA’s investigation.
Lafferty was axed from the Northern Ireland squad for their recent Nations League fixtures against Kosovo and Greece, with manager Ian Baraclough stating that a back injury had also been considered when the decision was made.
The former Motherwell manager claimed the incident was not necessarily the end of Lafferty’s international career.
It is unclear whether Lafferty will be in the squad for Kilmarnock’s cinch Premiership match at Aberdeen on Saturday.
Killie manager Derek McInnes earlier stated the club would be guided by the SFA’s input but Lafferty could feature if fit considering he is likely to face some form of suspension following his Hampden hearing.
If a lot of club game referees weren’t small fat middle aged men who haven’t performed well as a ref since the early 1980′s… then respect would come naturally.
Who would become a referee so?
I remember playin a game where the ref just walked between the 2 65s. He was a sight to see with his paddy cap an all
If referees were highly trained martial artists allowed to punch any player who abused or questioned his decisions, there would be a radical change in behaviour towards refs.
Its imbeciles like you Darragh, is why we have the problem!
The key is consistency really. If referees said “no backchat at all”, we would accept it. That’s as long as all referees took the same line with players in ALL games, no exceptions.
In general, I think that would be a great idea. What is the point in remonstrating with an official after he has made his decision?
As an ex soccer referee, players liked me. Becuse most referees would yellow card players for simply questioning them. I always explained my decisions to players..totally diffused situations
I think it might be better if there was a player in the forwards and backs allowed to ask the ref to explain his decision(they’d have to be level headed and respected players). Players need to know why they’re been blown up
Cormac. Its why I did it. I was a player and very few showed common sense.
If i hear the whistle on the pitch, straight away i’m thinking of the next ball, the last thing i want to do,is get an explanation of the referee, or abuse him .
Players need to be educated to respect the referees, We need zero tolerance, Just take one look at our rugby counterparts to realise we have a fundamental problem.
If i was a Gealic or soccer referee, Id be like Pierluigi Collina, If you so much as cursed at me you’d be booked, if it happens again you’re off! If you want to get really abusive with me , id grab you by the scruff of the neck and challenge you to a fight after the game, where i’d batter you in front of your team!
The problem with respect is it must go both ways. A good referee will in general get respect and not be questioned by players. But in gaa especially in club games many of the refs are of very poor quality. They are unfit, make poor decisions consistently and often have linesmen and umpires who don’t do their jobs with regard to off the ball incidents etc.
Striking with the fist is supposed to be a red card offence but in reality more often than not is not consistently enforced which leads to players seeking to get revenge knowing it will likely only be a yellow.
Unfortunately you have lots of former players who would make great refs but won’t do it because of the abuse they get.
For the crap refrees put up with it is a wonder there is actually anyone willing to do it.
Refreeing is a thankless job
I admire his candidness in a way, but everyone would like to tell someone to “F off”
“Not everyone” I meant the opposite.
Why does the referee have to explain his decisions? Everyone knows the old addage of “he’s not going to change his mind”, yet players persist in wanting a referee to explain everything to “gain respect”.Get on with it, and if you still have a grievance, give it 15mins after the match when everyone is calmer and if it’s still life and death important to find out why he gave a free, maybe then is the right time to ask.
Players try to make refs think they were wrong in the decision against them in the hope of maybe influencing the refs next decision in their favour. Sometimes it works.
If a ref told a player to f**k off or told a player he was a useless so & so their would be outrcry yet refs regularly get such abuse in club games for very little reward . Someone has to ref a game & the ref is the soft target .if players & mentors analyise their own performance they might find the real reason their team loses .
Id like to tell Eugene to fcuk off..and I will. ..fcuk off Eugene
It might also be noted that before rugby referees make an important decision such as a yellow card, most of the time they revert to the TMO. Added to this a lot of a rugby match is played at not much faster than walking pace, where the referee is nearly always right up with the play and spends his time in the players ears practically coaching them on what not to do or he will penalise them!
Respect earns respect. If a player told a ref to F off he would get a straight red however if a ref heard one player telling another player to F off there would be no punishment. So how is a player to respect a ref?. also refs in gaa are answerable to no-one. If a player makes a mistake he looses his place, if a manager makes a mistake he is answerable to the county board.
James. You haven’t a clue what you’re talking about.
Yea good argument Derek. You seem to be too afraid to express your own opinion yet you have no problem putting other ppl opinions down. I have played with a lot of different refs in lots of different sports and officiated myself I have a pretty good grasp of what makes a good and bad ref.
What is wrong with telling another player to f off. What is wrong with giving him a good hard shoulder in a tackle to put some manners on him or a box if need be.
Gaelic is a tough sport, no one wants to change that. You can play hard but still have respect and give respect.
If you tell a Ref. to F. off, it has to be a Red card, if a player makes a habit of it then they shouldn’t be playing for the team. No one wants to see that kind of rubbish at a game.
Box an opponent to put manners on him? Sure why don’t you knife him just to make sure killian. Do you want to know the sporting way to do it,rather than the cowardly way? Win every ball in a fair way be it hit him with a fair shoulder or beat him in a sprint. I’m guessing you a slow unintelligent coward if you have to hit you opponent a box to gain an advantage
James.
Are you drunk?
GAA is a tough sport, plenty of knocks but the whole point it that people play hard and have respect for each other.
That is something that is missing in Soccer where diving and back chatting the Ref. are very serious problems and indications of the type of people that play it, it should not be tolerated in other disciplines.
“Indications of the type of people that play it”, the most popular sport in the world? A wee bit of a generalisation there
What an absolutely ridiculous statement in his last paragraph! The problem will never disappear…
It should be limited as much as possible.
When you look at the attitude that Soccer players give Refs in the Premiership it is bound to set a bad example.
Other disciplines need to show that acting the diva is not tolerated.
McGee’s comments sum up the entire problem. When the man appointed to try and change things has such a ridiculous attitude then it doesn’t augur well for the prospect of change. He seems to think that while it’s only natural to abuse refs, it doesn’t look good so we should try and tone it down.
Funnily Eugene we wouldn’t all like to tell the ref to f**k off. Most sensible people realise that they are giving their time like everyone else and that there would be no games without them.
Don’t call the ref a muppet at least not in Munster.Could cost you a serious suspension!