Michael Stewart looked to have sidestepped his Hampden car park ban after being spotted inside the Premier Sports production truck ahead of the second Scottish Cup semi final.
However, the outspoken pundit did not take part in the TV broadcast after being prohibited from what has been described as the “footprint of Hampden.”
Stewart has been excluded from the National Stadium following his strong criticism of SFA officials, leaving Premier Sports to find alternative ways to include him. During Dunfermline’s penalty shootout win over Falkirk, he was brought in from the production truck as part of their workaround.
After being refused entry to the stadium, Stewart initially tried to record from the car park, but even that option was later taken away before Celtic’s Sunday afternoon meeting with St Mirren.
Despite that, Stewart appeared to push on. He posted a video of himself inside a production truck, which seemed to be filmed from the Hampden car park, with Lesser Hampden visible behind him.
He tweeted: “Behind the scenes @HampdenPark,” followed by a disguised emoji.
Speaking during the TV coverage, which included Charlie Mulgrew, Neil Lennon and Jim Goodwin in Stewart’s absence, presenter Emma Dodds explained the situation. She said: “He (Stewart) has now been banned from the footprint of Hampden. It was our intention to have him with us here as part of our show today but that is not possible.
“Here is a statement on behalf of Premier Sports: ‘The SFA have written to Premier Sports to say that Michael is not welcome in the broadcast truck situated in the car park at Hampden. Premier Sports see this as a direct attempt to censor one of our valued team.
“As a broadcast partner of the SFA, we are very disappointed by the decision. Michael won’t be a part of our coverage today but we will welcome him back soon.”