Celtic have called for referee John Beaton to publicly explain himself after Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos went unpunished for a series of clashes in last month's Old Firm derby.

On Thursday it was revealed Morelos is to face no Scottish FA disciplinary charges for his conduct during the Light Blues' 1-0 win at Ibrox.

The Colombian appeared to aim a kick at Celtic skipper Scott Brown, whilst he also caught Anthony Ralston with his studs and seemed to grab at Ryan Christie during the Light Blues' 1-0 win at Ibrox.

All three alleged offences were reviewed by Scottish FA compliance officer Clare Whyte.

However, as Beaton confirmed he witnessed all three incidents and decided against taking action at the time no retrospective punishment was handed out by the governing body against the striker.

Celtic have now stated their "surprise" at the decision not to pull up Morelos, reasoning that the move suggests it is acceptable to injure opponents in the Scottish game.

The Parkhead club believe it is now necessary for referees to publicly explain their decisions for the good of transparency.

A club statement read: "Celtic Football Club is surprised that there will be no disciplinary action taken by the Scottish FA regarding the incidents during the match on December 29, which have been widely addressed in the media.

"It is reported that no action was taken because the match referee saw all of the incidents in question.

"Given that the referee took no action at the time, this tends to suggest that such conduct, which in one instance led to a Celtic player, Anthony Ralston, being injured, is acceptable in Scottish football. That cannot be right.

"On the day, Celtic did not play well enough to win the match, something we accept. However, this issue goes beyond the result of the match.

"Celtic is not the only club this season to raise concerns regarding the standard of officiating at matches in Scotland, concerns which have also been shared by many commentators on the game.

"In order to fully understand what is going on, Celtic, our supporters, Scottish clubs and the general Scottish football public need transparency in these matters, and we therefore call on the Scottish FA to allow the referee, John Beaton, to explain these decisions publicly as well as any match officials involved in other similar circumstances.

"In the meantime, we have requested a meeting with Scottish FA Chief Executive, Ian Maxwell, and the Association's Head of Refereeing."

In response to Celtic's statement, the SFA has since told STV it was agreed last month a meeting involving managers, referees and PFA Scotland is to be arranged.

A Scottish FA spokesperson said: "We welcome discussion with any of our member clubs.

"The board discussed this last month and it was agreed that we would arrange a meeting involving stakeholders including managers, our Referee Operations department and PFA Scotland.

"This will be an excellent opportunity to open dialogue, answer questions and discuss opportunities to improve our game."