Rangers: Former compliance officer explains Bruno Alves ruling

Rangers defender Bruno Alves (centre) faces a possible two-match suspension for his actions at Hampden

Rangers are wrong to argue that the decision to issue Bruno Alves with a notice of complaint is "devoid of credibility and balance", says former compliance officer Vincent Lunny.

The Ibrox club are contesting the ban offered to Alves for an alleged swipe at Motherwell's Louis Moult.

And Rangers have also criticised the Scottish FA's disciplinary system.

However, Lunny told BBC Scotland: "The compliance officer's role is to be as dispassionate as possible."

He added: "The job is to look at all the incidents in a match and decide what you can actually prove before the panel."

Violent conduct or serious foul play?

Portugal defender Alves appeared to lash out with both feet as he and Moult tangled towards the end of Sunday's League Cup semi final at Hampden.

While Moult was booked following a confrontation with Eduardo Herrera in the aftermath of the incident, Alves was not spoken to by referee Steven McLean.

But after reviewing footage of the incident, current compliance officer Tony McGlennan has decided to charge Alves and the case will go before a hearing on Thursday.

"Where it becomes difficult in a match with a number of incidents is deciding which ones haven't been seen by the officials," explained Lunny, who fulfilled the role from 2011-14.

"Once that hurdle is cleared, then it's about deciding if they are sending off offences."

Rangers issued a statement on Wednesday, saying they are "shocked" by the decision, adding: "are we being asked to believe just one player was guilty of violent conduct in Sunday's game?"

Motherwell forward Ryan Bowman was spared a second booking despite leaving Gers defender Fabio Cardoso with a broken nose after he caught his rival with his elbow in an aerial challenge.

Rangers' Fabio Cardoso was left with a broken nose by a Ryan Bowman challenge

Cardoso also left Motherwell's double goal hero Moult bloodied after clashing during the first half.

"I can only assume that it [the Bowman elbow on Cardoso] has been assessed because it is so high profile," said Lunny.

"The question is: is it violent conduct or serious foul play with excessive force or brutality, or was it simply reckless?

"You can't take retrospective action for reckless action, which would be a caution.

"You can't look at the outcome. The fact that his nose is broken is dreadful but that's not indicative of the quality of the action from Bowman. I suspect it's been viewed as reckless."

SFA panel make the ruling

Rangers have urged a "radical overhaul" of the disciplinary system but Lunny does not think that view is widely shared.

"Tempers flare after high profile or difficult matches," he said. "It's a case of reviewing the evidence but you [the compliance officer] are not taking a decision.

"It's a panel of three independent judges who will then decide whether or not Alves breached rule 200 and if there's been a missed sending off offence.

"The English FA have a panel of three ex-referees who refer incidents to their panel but that is more time consuming and a lot more expensive."