Burley distances himself from bans decision

Scotland coach George Burley insists he did not take the final decision to ban Rangers duo Barry Ferguson and Allan McGregor from international football.

Ferguson and McGregor were hit with lifetime suspensions from Scotland duty for their behaviour after the Rangers pair had been caught indulging in an early-hours drinking session following Scotland’s World Cup qualifying defeat in Holland two weeks ago.

They then reacted to being dropped to the bench for the clash with Iceland by flicking V-signs at photographers during the victory at Hampden Park.

As well as being punished by the Scottish Football Association (SFA), the players were also suspended by Rangers for two weeks without pay, while Ferguson was stripped of the captaincy.

However, the SFA have since refused to rule out a dramatic U-turn after being criticised for their handling of the incident and Burley was keen to set the record straight about his own role in the affair.

“I don’t think it’s been handled greatly. I just want to clarify a few matters and be black and white about the facts. It’s important people know how the SFA works,” Burley said on Sunday.

“The Scotland manager doesn’t decide who is banned. The only people who make that decision are the board of the SFA and I’m not on the board.

“They ask the manager what he thinks and I was very disappointed and hurt by the actions of Ferguson and McGregor on the bench.

“But I stress, it’s not me, it’s not the chief executive, it’s not the president, but the board as a whole who decide these matters.

“They decide whether to ban anyone and decide if somebody should get back in the squad.

“They might come back to me in the future and ask for my opinion, which I will give them. But I stress, I didn’t ban them. Although I felt totally let down.”