Celtic fume over Loovens ban

Celtic chiefs are fuming after the Scottish Football Association decided to uphold Glenn Loovens’ ban for his challenge on Rangers midfielder Maurice Edu.

Loovens, 25, was suspended by the SFA’s disciplinary committee after they reviewed footage which appeared to show the Holland international flicking a boot at Edu during an Old Firm derby at Ibrox in May.

He was punished with a one-match ban and had 12 points added to his disciplinary points total for “misconduct of a significantly serious nature”.

He appealed against the decision but lost on Thursday and will now Saturday’s Scottish Premier League game against Motherwell.

Celtic boss Tony Mowbray had played down the ban but the Parkhead board feel they are being unfairly targeted by the SFA, who they claim have ignored similar incidents involving other teams.

A Celtic spokesperson said: “The club still awaits clarification from the Scottish Football Association in terms of the process followed with regards to this case and other incidents.

“We have written to the SFA on two occasions, the first time over a month ago, to ascertain the criteria for referring incidents to the SFA Review Panel.

“We have received no substantive response on this issue so far and the procedure by which Glenn Loovens and Scott McDonald were referred for review remains unclear.

“Therefore, we still do not understand the procedure by which Glenn Loovens and Scott McDonald were referred for review and other similar incidents in recent months have not been. The process seems to be disparate and arbitrary.

“Our objective is to ensure that these processes are applied fairly, consistently and in a transparent manner, for the benefit of all clubs and players.

“We will continue to pursue this objective and look forward to hearing from the SFA shortly.”