Griffiths charged by Scottish FA over smoke bomb incident

Leigh Griffiths has been charged by the Scottish FA over an incident at Dens Park during Dundee’s match against St Johnstone earlier this month.

The striker, on loan from Celtic, has already been charged by the police with ‘culpable and reckless conduct’ after kicking a smoke bomb from the pitch into the stand where away supporters were housed.

The football authorities have now followed that by calling the player to account, charging him with bringing the game into disrepute, failing to act in the best interests of association football, and excessive misconduct.

Under the SFA rules, Griffiths could now face a substantial fine and lengthy ban from playing.

Dundee published an apology from Griffiths after the match, when the former Scotland striker said that he had meant to just remove the smoke bomb from the pitch.

The 31-year-old said: “It was regrettable that the pyrotechnic ended up back in the stand as my intention was just to remove it from the pitch.

“Having just lost a goal I was eager to get the match restarted as quickly as possible and I would like to apologise for any distress caused by this action.”

The club added: “Following the opening goal a smoke generator, amongst other items, was thrown onto the park by the visiting supporters.

“This pyrotechnic ended up back in the stand as Leigh kicked it to remove it from the field of play.”

The Scottish FA has set a preliminary hearing date of October 14 to consider the case.