The winger was already on a booking as he celebrated his Ross County victory with the crowd.
Former SFA referee Bobby Madden has supported Kevin Clancy when he failed to dismiss Celtic player Nicolas Kuhn following his winner against Ross County.
Wild scenes broke out at Dingwall after the German curled the ball into the far corner before running into the away end to celebrate with the fans. Kuhn had already received a booking in the Scottish Premiership from Clancy, the man in the middle, and was on the verge of receiving another after celebrating with the crowd.
Following the full-time whistle, doubts were raised about the whistler’s decision to retain his cards in his pocket, with Rangers hero Kris Boyd claiming that “the rules must have changed” after being mystified by the Celtic star dodging the second yellow.
But Madden has stepped in to explain the call. He posted a video of Kuhn’s Celtic celebration on social media, along with one of Aberdeen’s Ante Palaversa wheeling towards the crowd after scoring the late winner against Hearts on Sunday. He also included footage of Tom Rogic celebrating with the supporters at Hampden after scoring for the Hoops against the Dons in 2017.
He wrote alongside the video: “Today. Today. 2017. I could share a clip of a player from every team celebrating in that manner and not being cautioned. Scottish football, the home of whataboutery.
“Nobody has ever wanted cautions for this. It was removed as mandatory caution over a decade ago. Referees discretion and common sense were asked for. The only consideration being if the celebration caused a safety or security risk.
“The guidance was that if you celebrated with your own fans, didn’t enter the crowd and there wasn’t a multiple pitch incursions(this is when police would expect action) as a consequence, then no caution would be issued. As ever, it would probably be better being communicated to the wider football audience that way.”
Madden also shared the IFAB rules, which state: “Players can celebrate when a goal is scored, but the celebration must not be excessive; choreographed celebrations are not encouraged and must not cause excessive time-wasting.
“Leaving the field of play to celebrate a goal is not a cautionable offence but players should return as soon as possible.A player must be cautioned, even if the goal is disallowed, for: climbing onto a perimeter fence and/or approaching the spectators in a manner which causes safety and/or security issues; acting in a provocative, derisory or inflammatory way; covering the head or face with a mask or other similar item; removing the shirt or covering the head with shirt.”
