SFA: Morelos gesture was dealt with after Celtic game

Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos will not face further action over the gesture he made during his side’s 2-1 win over Celtic, with the Scottish FA revealing the incident was dealt with on the day of the game.

Morelos was sent off after picking up a second yellow card late in the game and while leaving the pitch he made a gesture to the Celtic fans, drawing his hand across his neck.

Some interpreted the gesture as a ‘throat-slitting’ mime and called for the Scottish FA to take retrospective action. Rangers said in a statement that it was “used commonly throughout South America to indicate quite simply that something – in this case, the match – is finished”.

It has now been revealed that match referee Kevin Clancy dealt with the incident after the final whistle, cautioning the player for additional misconduct.

Morelos will sit out Rangers’ next three games, beginning with the match against Stranraer on Friday evening. He is suspended for that Scottish Cup tie because of his disciplinary record in the competition last season.

The prolific striker will then miss the Premiership match against Hearts as the ban for his sending-off against Celtic, and then serve an additional match suspension against St Mirren because he had previously been sent off against Motherwell earlier in December.