Hibs lodge Ryan Porteous red card appeal - defender faces 3-game ban but will be available for Hearts semi-final

Hibs have lodged an appeal with the Scottish FA in a bid to overturn the red card shown to Ryan Porteous during Saturday’s 3-1 defeat by Aberdeen.

The 22-year-old was dismissed by referee Alan Muir for a foul on Dons defender Ross McCrorie shortly after the hour mark with Lewis Ferguson scoring the resultant penalty to put the hosts 2-1 up.

Speaking after the match Hibs boss Shaun Maloney claimed that, while the spot-kick call was correct, Porteous should not have been sent off and confirmed the club would likely appeal the decision.

“For me it was incorrect, he’s gone for the ball. A definite penalty, but the rules are that [the referee] shouldn’t send him off. It’s disappointing because it had a big effect on the game,” the Hibs boss said.

Ryan Porteous makes his way off the pitch at Pittodrie after his sending off

The Notice of Claim confirms that the red card issued was for ‘Denying the opposing team or an opponent a goal or an obvious goalscoring opportunity as defined by Law 12’.

Hibs are claiming wrongful dismissal, with Maloney asserting that Porteous made a ‘genuine attempt’ to get the ball and thus shouldn’t have been given his marching orders.

Should Hibs fail in their bid to overturn the centre-back’s second red card of the season Porteous, who has been a key performer in green and white this term, is likely to miss three matches.

The Scottish FA rules state that a red card for denying an opponent a goal or obvious goalscoring opportunity carries a one-game suspension, but with Porteous having already been sent off at Ibrox in October for serious foul play and incurred a three-game suspension for an off-the-ball incident classed as violent conduct with Aberdeen striker Christian Ramirez in a Scottish Premiership match on December 22, he faces a lengthier ban if the appeal fails.

Players who have been previously sent off during a match or reported for a red-card offence in the same competition in a season are hit with an additional suspension of one game for every previous red card, thus Porteous would be sidelined for the league games against Dundee United and Hearts and the first post-split fixture, but be available for the Scottish Cup semi-final.

A fast-track tribunal hearing will be held on Wednesday March 23 where Hibs and the player will learn his fate.

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