A Celtic delegation is set to face an SFA hearing on Thursday over the crowd trouble which followed the Scottish Cup clash at Ibrox in March.
Both Celtic and Rangers were hit with notices of complaint after scenes spilt onto the pitch following Celtic’s penalty shootout victory.
Celtic supporters had been celebrating Tomas Cvancara’s winning spot kick when Rangers ultras moved from behind their goal, with trouble then breaking out between sections of both supports.
The scenes took the shine off a significant victory at Ibrox and quickly raised questions over how the situation had been allowed to develop.
A 37-page independent review into the disorder has since reported its findings, and neither club nor Police Scotland escaped criticism.
While supporters from both sides took much of the blame for the violence itself, the report also highlighted serious failures in the planning ahead of a fixture where the potential for trouble should hardly have caught anyone by surprise.
Celtic and Rangers were subsequently charged with separate breaches of SFA disciplinary rule 37, which relates to unacceptable conduct at matches.
Celtic’s case will now be heard on Thursday, with the club set to discover what sanctions follow from the disciplinary process.
Rangers will not face their hearing at the same time, Sky Sports have confirmed.
Their case has been delayed until after their Thursday night Europa League third-qualifying round second leg at Ibrox.
For Celtic, the hearing brings the events of March back into focus months after a match which should have been remembered primarily for what happened on the pitch.
The independent report made clear that responsibility for the disorder did not sit in one place.
Supporters involved in the trouble were criticised, but the failures identified around the organisation of the fixture also leave difficult questions for the clubs, the authorities and Police Scotland.
Celtic will now make their case to the SFA, with the outcome set to determine what punishment the Scottish champions face for the scenes which followed their shootout victory at Ibrox.
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5 responses
I honestly don’t see what clubs can do to stop fans from misbehaving. Short of erecting huge wire fences at every ground to prevent nutcases from running onto the park, there’s very little clubs can do. They should never be held responsible for spontaneous actions they obviously cannot predict and/or control. It’s just a way for the SFA to raise funds through fines.
They could try by calling out the culprits and condemning them and punishing them.
Both Celtic and Rangers chose not to do so, allowing their ultra thugs to become emboldened over the years leading to where we are now.
Regular pitch invasions, regular pyro displays, regular breaches at the gates by ticketless ultras to force entry to away grounds.
Some of us go to the matches to support Celtic and enjoy the fitba but too often are made to suffer endless hassle caused by the ultras while the club panders to them, ignoring the real fans
Well said, Terry Munro
celtic banned ultras for a while last season the second ibrox club have problems from every section surrounding the pitch not just their ultras section . celtic physio scarred after bottle thrown , glass on pitch, bottle thrown at o reilly, engels cut by coin if these incidents had happened at parkhead they would have been demanding stand closures but Nicholson just sat back as usual. If the authorities had taken action then maybe just maybe there would have been no trouble on the pitch ar the cup game .
Scousbhoy is spot on.