SFA chief executive says duo will not play for Scotland again

April 10, 2009

Gordon Smith when questioned before about the future of Allan McGregor and Barry Ferguson had refused to answer categorically if the players would play again for Scotland after their breach of discipline but now he has stated the players will not play again under the current SFA regime.

The whole situation has rumbled on for weeks now with more and more details of the drinking session at Cameron House leaking out into the press and after the SFA reviewed the Scotland indiscipline storm during its regular board meeting at Hampden on Thursday, it has been decided that the ban will be upheld.

From the substitute’s area at Hampden, the pair then made V-signs at the ranks of assembled photographers.

Several other players had also disregarded the management’s instructions at the hotel but their actions went unpunished.

“It is certainly the case that there were a number of players who stayed up beyond an acceptable time and it is also the case that the excessive consumption of alcohol by players can never be considered a part of the preparations for a vital game,” read a statement issued by the SFA.

“All of the players who breached team discipline were spoken to by the manager at the time and told in no uncertain terms that their actions were totally unacceptable both to him, to the rest of the squad and to the country.

“However, due to the severity of the actions of two players in particular, the manager felt it necessary to take further action against them.”

He added: “The players involved were involved in two incidents. Two yellows make a red and I hope the football world can understand that.”

The SFA has pledged to establish a code of conduct, which will be issued to all international players - regardless of level. This will be drawn up in the coming weeks in consultation with coaching staff.

“If you’re a responsible player and a top-class professional, you’ve got to been given a degree of credibility that you’re going to go and act in the correct manner,” said Smith.

“If you’ve sneaked out of a room after being put to bed, is that the manager’s fault because he didn’t have the bedroom window locked or they didn’t have a guard out in the garden?

“You’re relying on players to act in a certain way and maybe what we have to do now is put in a code of conduct to make sure that the players will have to respect that and act in a certain way rather than give the players responsibility to act in a certain manner.”

The SFA statement, issued after Smith’s address, added: “This whole episode has been an embarrassment to our national game and has overshadowed the fact that Scotland secured a vital win last week.

“Lessons must - and will be learned from this.”

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