Rangers defender Bruno Alves has lost his appeal against a two-match ban for kicking Motherwell striker Louis Moult.
The Portugal international will now miss the Ladbrokes Premiership encounter with Hearts at BT Murrayfield on Saturday. The second part of his suspension applies to next season’s Betfred Cup.
Alves kicked out at Moult on the ground as the pair clashed after competing a high ball during Rangers’ 2-0 defeat in the Betfred Cup semi-final at Hampden on Sunday. The incident sparked a melee and Eduardo Herrera and Moult were both booked after the Rangers striker pushed Motherwell’s double goalscorer to the ground.
Portuguese veteran Bruno Alves arrives for Rangers training on Thursday morning
The former Porto defender was the only player to face retrospective action after a physical encounter which saw Fabio Cardoso suffer a broken nose after being struck by Ryan Bowman’s elbow at a high ball. Moult needed stitches above his eye after a similar incident involving Cardoso earlier in the game.
Both were missed by referee Steven McLean but were deemed to be ‘reckless’ by Scottish Football Association compliance officer Tony McGlennan. Only excessive instances of violent conduct or serious foul play can spark a notice of complaint.
Rangers described the decision to punish Alves alone as ‘inexplicable’ in a lengthy and scathing statement on Tuesday but a disciplinary panel convened by the SFA ruled against their appeal on Thursday.
