Motherwell's appeal to reduce a £5,000 fine for their social media reaction to a late Celtic penalty at Fir Park in May has been rejected by a Scottish FA panel. The club was punished for a post featuring the phrase "as the world of football mocks our game" and a video montage following referee John Beaton's VAR-assisted handball decision against Sam Nicholson. Kelechi Iheanacho converted the resulting penalty with the last kick of the game, sealing a 3-2 defeat for Motherwell. In a separate ruling, former player Elliot Watt, now with Samsunspor in Turkey, had his four-game suspension reduced to two matches, with a further two suspended until the end of next season.

Watt had written "worst VAR decision in history" on his X account. Both the club and player were charged with breaching rules prohibiting criticism of match officials that implies bias or incompetence. Last week, Rangers manager Derek McInnes also saw his punishment cut, from a three-match touchline ban to two, for describing the same decision as "disgusting" during a TV interview while he was Hearts boss.