Kilmarnock have submitted a formal complaint to the Scottish Football Association after refereeing chief John Fleming claimed Jordan Jones had deliberately dived against Dundee.
The Northern Ireland winger agreed to accept a two-match ban after he was charged with simulation following his side’s win at Dens Park earlier this month.
But the Rugby Park outfit made it clear their player had not acted in a premeditated manner when he won his side a controversial spot-kick, insisting the only reason they had not challenged the punishment was a lack of supporting TV evidence.
Fleming – the SFA’s head of refereeing – has now angered Killie bosses after he wrote to a Dundee fans group and accused Jones of throwing himself to the ground “solely to deceive the referee”.
In his letter to the Dundee Supporters’ Association (DSA), Fleming stated: “The two-match suspension offered to the player has been accepted by the club which, in my opinion, clearly indicates the player committed an act of simulation during the match.
“On accepting the two-match suspension, the club, in my opinion, are accepting the player committed the act, solely to deceive the referee.”
But that has enraged Kilmarnock, who have released a statement demanding Fleming is investigated by his Hampden superiors.
“In our statement on the matter, we made it clear that Jordan denied committing an act of simulation and denied any intention to deceive the referee,” the club said in a statement.
“The sole reason for not challenging the charge was that we had no additional substantive evidence to submit for consideration so therefore took a pragmatic view to accept the penalty and move on.
“Having taken this decision and accepted the penalty, we expected this matter to be closed.
“It is unprecedented for the SFA’s head of refereeing to make remarks of this nature.”
Fleming’s letter to the DSA was in response to concerns over the appointment of referee Steven McLean to officiate Kilmarnock games given that his father Stuart played for the Ayrshire side during the 1970s.
Killie’s statement added: “The original correspondence from the DSA to the SFA and Mr Fleming expressing concern over the suitability of Steven McLean to take charge of Kilmarnock matches was completely baseless and cast unfounded aspersions on the referee’s character.
“It is highly ironic that after another organisation has cast aspersions on the integrity of a match official, it is our club which has been the subject of negative remarks by a senior officer of the SFA.”
Killie’s complaint comes on the eve of manager Steve Clarke’s appearance before an SFA disciplinary hearing into comments he made criticising referee Willie Collum and the SFA following Gary Dicker’s red card against Hearts back in August.
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