St Johnstone: Craig Levein charged for ‘swept under carpet’ claim

St Johnstone manager Craig Levein has been charged by the Scottish FA for suggesting a decision against his side in the defeat by Motherwell would be “swept under the carpet”.

The 59-year-old was frustrated with a second yellow card shown to defender Jack Sanders in stoppage time during Saints’ 2-1 loss to Motherwell last month.

That incident came off the back of controversy in their League Cup defeat by Rangers two weeks’ prior when the club initially thought referee Matthew MacDermid had blown for a foul before Cyriel Dessers scored.

However, St Johnstone later accepted the audio from officials confirmed the referee had allowed the ball to cross the line before awarding the free kick, meaning there was no breach of VAR protocol in deciding to give the goal after a review.

But despite that, Levein said after the Motherwell game he was still “adamant” the decision in the Rangers game was wrong, as well as being annoyed at the fourth official intervening in Sanders’ sending off at McDiarmid Park.

“He doesn’t need to get involved – the referee has seen what happened,” Levein said after the match.

“Have I spoken to the ref? What’s the point? Seriously, what’s the point. After the Rangers debacle you know what’s going to happen. It’ll be swept under the carpet.”

A hearing date has been set for 26 September.