The SPFL and the SFA must sanction Hearts for their comments.

Ian Maxwell has made statements tonight defending John Beaton and others at the SFA over how they have handled themselves in recent weeks. Fine.

Let him defend his officials if that is what he wants to do.

But if the SFA is serious about standards, then there is a very good case for sanctioning Derek McInnes for his comments. There is also a clear case for looking closely at Hearts.

Their statement after the Celtic Park game was inflammatory, reckless and, on the evidence available so far, unsupported.

There has been no proven assault or intimidation of their players on the pitch. None has been presented. There was no major incident outside the ground involving the team bus either, despite the way that too was blown wildly out of proportion.

The video footage of the bus departure makes a few things clear. No Hearts player appears to be threatened or injured on the way to that bus. Some of them appeared perfectly capable of giving back as good as they were getting.

Hearts’ statement was unnecessarily vindictive. It alleged confusion or conspiracy over the ending of the match, and it alleged mistreatment of their players and staff in terms that the media then ran with almost unquestioningly.

If a club makes a serious claim, and that claim is later contradicted by the available facts or not backed up by any formal complaint, then that club has questions to answer.

Hearts helped spread a false narrative about Scottish football being violent, chaotic and corrupt. They helped create the impression that Celtic fans had behaved like a mob and that the title win had been stained by something darker.

If the SFA is serious about protecting the integrity of the game, it cannot allow that to stand.

This is not a minor matter. It should be recognised inside Hampden for what it is.

Clubs have been getting away with this sort of thing in Scottish football for far too long. In my view, the Ibrox club helped set the precedent. Had they been properly sanctioned for inflammatory statements in the past, perhaps Hearts would not have found the confidence to try the same thing themselves.

The precedent was set after that game at Ibrox, when their club released a statement saying it would back its supporters after some of those supporters had come onto the field armed and looking for trouble with Celtic fans.

That was one of the most disgusting statements ever released by a club in this country. The fact the SFA did not properly sanction them for it remains astonishing.

Now the SPFL has opened an investigation into events at Celtic Park and Motherwell. One of the criteria being examined is what the clubs did in response to those events.

Celtic will obviously present the SPFL with evidence of what the club did behind the scenes. It may be that the Ibrox club does the same. But there will be people at Hampden pointing to Martin O’Neill’s comments defending Celtic supporters and suggesting that our club made light of the situation.

It will be very interesting to see how the SPFL responds to that even though his comments, particularly around assault allegations, have been vindicated.

But if Martin O’Neill’s comments are going to be used as evidence against Celtic, then Hearts’ statements must be treated the same way.

Because it was Hearts’ statement that inflamed this situation. Just as the Ibrox club’s statements inflamed things.

Hearts’ behaviour meets any sensible definition of bringing the game into disrepute. Their manager also impinged on the integrity of officials when he described John Beaton’s decision as disgusting.

When I watched Ian Maxwell talking tonight, that was the first thing that came into my head.

Surely he intends to take Hearts to task over this? Then I thought about it again.

The Motherwell game was two weeks ago. If McInnes was going to be sanctioned for those comments, would it not have happened already?

The SPFL has already ordered its investigation into those games. Unless that investigation is going to deal with McInnes and Hearts, what exactly is going on? Are managers now allowed to comment on another club’s games and the officiating in those games?

Does nobody understand how dangerous that precedent is?

For Maxwell to stand there at Hampden and talk about defending officials, while taking no visible action against the clubs that inflamed the Beaton situation, would be absurd. Motherwell played their part. Hearts played the bigger one.

If Hearts’ statement is allowed to stand, a statement which did not just smear Celtic but smeared the whole game, then we really are through the looking glass.

White is black. Black is white.

And I could not even tell you what the rule book says anymore.

Because if this is not covered by bringing the game into disrepute, then what the hell is?

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