Overview
- The Scottish FA partially upheld Rangers’ appeal on Monday, replacing the original four-match ban with two immediate touchline suspensions and two matches held in reserve until the end of the 2026/27 season.
- McInnes will watch Rangers’ trip to Falkirk and the home game against Motherwell from the stands and will return to the dugout for the rescheduled St Mirren match on September 9 and the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final with Celtic.
- The sanction follows comments McInnes made after a 96th-minute VAR-checked penalty at Motherwell in May when he described the decision as 'disgusting', a remark deemed to risk impugning match officials under Disciplinary Rule 72.
- Scottish FA refereeing head Willie Collum publicly defended the original handball call, saying there was clear evidence that Sam Nicholson’s arm was in an unnatural position and that the contact was punishable.
- The suspended matches act as a conditional deterrent that ties McInnes’s short-term availability to future conduct, and the timing of fixtures and rearranged dates determined which games he will miss.