Alfredo Agyeman red card rescinded: Falkirk's appeal to Scottish FA fast-track panel is successful

Falkirk have confirmed that Alfredo Agyeman is available for selection against Hamilton Accies this Friday after appealing the red card shown to the Ghanian winger last time out.

The Bairns lost 2-1 away to Partick Thistle last Friday night - with that result seeing the Scottish Championship title race going down to the final weekend with both Falkirk and second-placed Livingston sitting on 70 points from 35 outings.

Agyeman was ordered off on 82 minutes by card-happy referee Matthew MacDermid after he collided with Robbie Crawford. The winger, 25, overran the ball but made little to no contact with the opposition player and was shown a red card after MacDermid was crowded by the Thistle players.

Scottish FA say red card shown to Falkirk ace Alfredo Agyeman was wrong

And the Scottish FA’s judicial review panel - for the second time this second-tier season after Luke Graham’s red card against Ayr United in December was rescinded - swiftly sided with Falkirk and reversed the match referee’s initial call. The red card has been downgraded to no card.

"We can confirm that the red card received by Alfredo Agyeman has been rescinded to no card following our appeal to the Scottish FA judicial review panel,” a Falkirk FC spokesperson said.

John McGlynn: Referee Matthew MacDermid was ‘influenced’ by Partick Thistle players

Speaking after the Thistle defeat, Falkirk manager John McGlynn reckoned that the red card call was “influenced” and that the incident “wasn’t even a foul”.

“Alfie won the ball clean and there was no attempt to injure the player, he never caught the player, he took the ball,” the boss said. “It is a poor decision by the referee. He was probably influenced part from the Thistle players, part influenced by a situation where one team is playing with ten men and the referee takes the easy option to even it up and send somebody else off. He did even up it up. It wasn’t even a foul.”

BBC Scotland pundits agree Alfredo Agyeman shouldn’t have been sent off

“That’s not a red card for me,” was the verdict of former Scotland hero James McFadden on commentary duty for BBC Scotland. “There isn’t enough in that - you see the reaction of the Partick Thistle players. That contact for me doesn’t warrant a red card. The reaction from the Thistle players has played a part - which it shouldn’t.”

Fellow pundit Leanne Crichton added post-match: “It is a really poor decision to me. James (McFadden) was actually kind on commentary. Where is the reason for Matthew MacDermid to produce a red card? For me, it is the furthest thing from it. He won the ball. Matthew has been really reactive to what has gone on around him. At that stage you do try to level things off. I don’t think you can afford to get that one wrong.”