Monday 7 January 2019 16:40, UK
Hearts manager Craig Levein has been given a one-match ban, with another match suspended, for comments he made after his side's defeat to Rangers in December.
Levein labelled referee Bobby Madden's performance in Hearts' 2-1 defeat as "abysmal", and after a Scottish Football Association judicial panel met at Hampden Park on Monday, Levein was found to be in breach of Disciplinary Rule 72.
He is now suspended from the dugout for Hearts' Scottish Cup fourth-round tie against Livingston on January 20. He has also been given an additional one-game ban, which is suspended until December 31.
Levein spoke out after Rangers won with a controversial goal by Alfredo Morelos. Video footage later proved the Colombian was one of several visiting players in an offside position as he scored, with the Hearts boss angry that the goal stood in addition to several other decisions surrounding Morelos which he felt Madden got wrong.
"I read a quote from Neil Lennon a few weeks ago when Hibs were at Celtic Park," Levein said after the match. "We were playing against 12 men.' That's how I feel. How Morelos stays on the park, never mind gets through that match without a booking, I will never know. Some of the decisions were abysmal."
