Young calls for SFA to take action against Hearts' protest

REFEREE Willie Young has called on the Scottish Football Association to take action against Hearts for questioning the "integrity" of match officials.

Young last night offered his take on the furore which followed Rangers’ last-minute penalty winner at Tynecastle last week. and sympathised with referee Hugh Dallas, who awarded the spot-kick which was converted by Fernando Ricksen, and with linesman Andy Davis.

Hearts have called for an inquiry, and Young believes it is time for the SFA to act to protect match officials.

He said: "I think in this situation the SFA will have been watching what the main protagonists have done and said very closely, and will act accordingly. It is best to keep things within the game."

The two officials are believed to have taken legal advice and Young, who is a practising lawyer, said:

"I don’t know what the officials in question are considering doing. But I would hope the governing body would take appropriate action.

"For a club to have 24 hours to think about things and then go into print questioning the integrity of a decision is a very serious road to be going down. If it was said five minutes after the game had finished, in the heat of the moment, then that would perhaps be taken with a pinch of salt."

Hearts were angry that Rangers had been awarded the penalty after Lee Miller’s challenge on Sotirios Kyrgiakos. Television pictures failed to clarify the situation and Young was convinced Davis was the one to suffer because of that. He said: "Viewers have only seen the incident in question from one angle and that has proved to be inconclusive."

Taken from the Scotsman