Paul McGinn charged by SFA after Hibs defender brands referee John Beaton 'inept' following Premier Sports Cup final defeat by Celtic

Hibs vice-captain Paul McGinn has been charged by the Scottish FA for comments he made in the aftermath of the Premier Sports Cup final defeat by Celtic on Sunday.

SFA charge: Paul McGinn

The 31-year-old didn’t hold back in his opinion of John Beaton’s performance when he spoke to the media after the match, accusing the official of “inept” refereeing.

McGinn and his Easter Road team-mates took issue with the manner in which Celtic scored the winning goal at Hampden, saying: “We are really annoyed about the second goal.

“It’s not a foul and when it is, the fourth official is holding the board so we just assumed it’s a sub.

"The referee has no control over the situation and just lets it happen, and the goal goes in. You can see me running to him straight away and I get myself booked. It’s inept."

The right-back now faces another trip back to the national stadium to face SFA top brass after being accused of breaching Disciplinary Rule 72 – “No recognised football body, club, official, Team Official or other member of Team Staff, player or other person under the jurisdiction of the Scottish FA, shall in an interview, a ‘blog’ on the internet, on a social networking or micro-blogging site, or in any other manner calculated or likely to lead to publicity (i) criticise the Decision(s) and/or performance(s) of any or all match official(s) in such a way as to indicate bias or incompetence on the part of such match official; or (ii) make remarks about such match official(s) which impinge on his character.”

Interim boss David Gray voiced his surprise in his post-match comments at the award of the free kick that led to the goal, claiming that Hibs should have had a penalty for a similar challenge, but stopped short of commenting on Beaton’s performance as a whole.

If the charge against McGinn is proven the defender could be hit with a suspension.

A principal hearing date has been set for Thursday January 13 2022 with the player set to learn his fate.

The Evening News understands the club is discussing the matter internally.