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HOW dare Hibs fan Leigh Griffiths glory in the demise of Hearts.

Not just that, singing about it in a public place for goodness sake.

Unashamedly chanting in a public house, no less. They should throw the book at him.

Just because you’ve supported Hibs all your life and scored 39 goals for the club in two seasons that does not give you the right to behave in such a way.

Not when you play for Celtic, that is.

No, Griffiths is guilty all right, guilty of being a proper football fan.

Let’s take the Fun Police, otherwise known as the SFA, for starters: “Disciplinary Rule 86 – Not acting in the best interests of Association Football by singing in public about Heart of Midlothian FC in administration.”

That’s the charge laid against the Scotland striker by compliance officer Vincent Lunny.

But Rule No.1 in any Hibs fan’s codebook for a derby is to indulge in taunting your rivals. The long-held suspicion that the people running our game aren’t real football fans has now been exposed as a stark reality.

Proper football people aren’t so pious that they’d dig up a diehard Hibee for indulging in normal fan behaviour while in “supporter mode” away from his day job at Celtic.

And the SFA’s Rule 86 goes on: “Furthermore such persons shall not act in any manner which is improper or use ... abusive, indecent or insulting words.”

The real football fan’s codebook is in constant breach of all of the above and that’s because football is the people’s game – a sport based on tribal loyalty, pride and passion.

The standards Lunny and the boys appear to be striving for are akin to the overbearing etiquette imposed at posh golf clubs.

The SFA must stop acting like the R&A and realise their field of governance covers the “rough and ready” football crew in Scotland rather than the elite few with lots of readies who bash balls over 18 holes.

Not that I’m saying Griffiths is a diamond in the rough. The biggest problem with him is that what you see is what you get. And God love him for that.

That’s why the latest controversy says more about the consistent nature of his personality than it does about anything else.

There are far too many double standards in Scottish football. Somehow, the conviction of St Mirren’s Paul McGowan for assaulting two policemen escapes Lunny’s attention yet the sensibilities of the SFA are breached by Griffiths’s daft sing song.

The player is also getting it in the neck from Celtic fans upset that one of their stars has the audacity to support another team.

The Hoops fans have obviously been seduced by the hypocritical badge kissers who routinely pass through their club.

At least Griffiths is genuine. A working class footballer who gives his all for whoever pays his wages but doesn’t change his allegiances according to who signs his pay cheque.

Griffiths has now racked up a lengthy rap sheet in his short career and seems to have developed the habit of always being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It’s a bit of an irony for a man who supports Hibs, there never seems to be much sunshine on Leigh.

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