DEILA TO WARN CIFTCI

CQN Magazine

9 years ago

NADIR CIFTCI will be warned by Ronny Deila that he runs the risks of jeopardising his Celtic career if he steps out of line.

The £1.3million signing from Dundee United will miss the first six matches of the SPFL season after being found guilty of biting Dundee’s Jim McAllister in the Tayside derby at the end of last term.

Ciftci, 23, faces the threat of a further ban of two games, which will kick in if he gets into trouble again between now and the end of the campaign.

The Turkish striker can now expect a stern talking-to by Deila about his future conduct.

If he can’t control himself as a Celtic player, where this is far more attention and pressure, the SFA are likely to hammer him.

Ciftci’s ban does not apply to any of the Champions League qualifiers, so he will be available for the club’s push to reach the group stages.

And he will be available for selection at the start of September for the clash against last season’s SPFL runners-up Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

Ciftci originally denied the charge, but he was always likely to be punished given the evidence that was heavily stacked against him.

The Scottish Professional Football League broadcast the incident on its official YouTube channel, with McAlister clearly heard claiming that Ciftci had bit him.

Referee Bobby Madden, who gave evidence yesterday, missed the incident, but within hours of the Dundee derby finishing, photographs of a wound on the leg of McAlister’s were widely circulated on social media.

Tony McGlennan, the SFA compliance officer, investigated the matter and a charge of excessive misconduct was made.

Celtic are unlikely to appeal, especially as Ciftci has been in trouble before. They will accept the ban and move on.

In October 2013, he was sent off while with Dundee United against Inverness Caley Thistle in the League Cup.

He was accused of grabbing an assistant referee by the throat, a charge that was amended to “excessive misconduct at a match by placing an open hand into the lower area of the assistant referee’s throat.”

This landed him a two-match ban, one of those being suspended to the end of the season.