Lennon charged for confronting Cup referee

Celtic manager Neil Lennon will face three charges over his reaction to his team’s Scottish Cup semi-final defeat (PA)

Neil Lennon, the Celtic manager, will face three charges over his reaction to his team's Scottish Cup semi-final defeat by Hearts this month, the Scottish Football Association said yesterday.

Hearts' 2-1 win at Hampden was sealed by Craig Beattie's controversial late penalty. Lennon, who was given a two-match ban last week over a separate incident, has been charged with misconduct, relating to offences including aggressive behaviour and insulting language towards a match official.

The Celtic manager ran on to the pitch to confront the referee Euan Norris over the penalty. Lennon has also been hit with two charges relating to comments made on Twitter. Soon after the game he said he thought the referee's decision was "personal", and then re-tweeted a comment from a Celtic supporter which suggested the club "get out of this league that is run by crooked SFA officials".