Roofe charged by Scottish FA over Davidson challenge

Rangers striker Kemar Roofe is facing a possible two-game ban after being charged with serious foul play by the Scottish FA.

Roofe was booked for a tackle on Murray Davidson during his side’s 1-0 win over St Johnstone on Wednesday, with referee David Munro showing the yellow card for a reckless challenge.

However, Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has revealed the player has now received a notice of complaint from the governing body’s disciplinary department.

He said: ““I haven’t had time as the notice of complaint came through ten minutes ago, which is quite frustrating because we’ve had two sessions to prepare for Hamilton and he’s been heavily involved in both sessions.”

The SFA subsequently published detail on their website confirming that the incident has now been reviewed and Roofe has been cited for serious foul play, a sending off offence that carries a two-game ban.

Though retrospective punishment is not normally permitted where a referee has dealt with an incident on the park, the rules allow for action if the match official has not seen the full incident.

For a notice of complaint to be issued, the referee would have to confirm that he had not seen the full extent of the challenge, and then three former top level referees would have to review the incident and be unanimous that a red card offence had been missed.

Roofe will now face a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday, February 9, unless Rangers decide to accept the two-match suspension without challenge.

After the match, the Rangers forward received some support from opposition manager Callum Davidson. The Saints boss said that he didn’t believe there was any “malice” in the challenge and that it may have looked worse in slow-motion replays.

He expressed concern that the tackle may have injured Davidson and put his appearance in the League Cup final in jeopardy. However, television footage revealed that the St Johnstone midfielder limped off after appearing to sustain the injury to his right leg while challenging Ryan Kent later in the game.