Ryan Porteous red card appeal fails as Hibs defender hit with four-game ban after SFA increases suspension
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The 22-year-old was sent off for a foul on Ross McCrorie, with referee Alan Muir awarding a penalty and adjudging the player to have ‘denied the the opposing team or an opponent a goal or an obvious goalscoring opportunity as defined by Law 12’.
The Easter Road side appealed the dismissal, claiming that Porteous had attempted to play the ball – an offence that would ordinarily result in a yellow card.
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Hide AdHowever, following a fast-track hearing at Hampden, the Scottish FA countered that there was no possibility of the defender successfully playing the ball.
As a result, Porteous has been hit with a four-game ban – an increase from the expected three-match suspension facing the player before the hearing.
The centre-back will now miss the league matches against Dundee United on April 2 and Hearts on April 9, as well as the first two Scottish Premiership matches after the split.
He will however be clear to play in the Scottish Cup semi-final against city rivals Hearts at Hampden on April 16, as the suspension relates only to matches in the same competition, i.e. the Scottish Premiership.
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Hide AdHaving been sent off for denying an opponent a goalscoring opportunity, which ordinarily carries a one-match suspension, Porteous faced a three-game ban due to earlier suspensions incurred in Scottish top-flight matches.
The defender was sent off for serious foul play in Hibs’ 2-1 defeat by Rangers at Ibrox in early October, and was suspended following a Notice of Complaint after a 1-0 victory over Aberdeen at Easter Road in December.
Each previous suspension triggers an additional one-game ban, hence the expected three-match ban if the appeal failed.
But the additional one-match ban stemmed from the Judicial Protocol Panel taking one of three decisions relating to the appeal.
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Hide AdIn the event of a claim being dismissed, the tribunal has to determine whether the claim ‘had no prospect of success’, was ‘an abuse of process or a delaying tactic for the sanction originally imposed’, or ‘was frivolous’.
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