Celtic can make Ibrox jump through Hoops for its tickets and we should.

Punishment is suffering. Otherwise, what is the point? So when Celtic talks to the Ibrox club on Monday, it will be to decide the final terms by which that club gets its tickets for Celtic Park. There seems to be an assumption in some quarters that the Ibrox club will simply be issued its allocation now that the SPFL has made its determination. That is not how this works in the real world.

Celtic has told the Ibrox club it will not get tickets unless the Union Brats are excluded. That means Celtic is not just going to hand those tickets over unless the Ibrox club demonstrates that it has complied.

That is the beautiful thing about this.

The SPFL has said it will not overrule Celtic’s security decision. That means if Celtic decides that the Ibrox club is playing fast and loose with this, and that those tickets are likely to end up with the Union Brats anyway, our club has every right to pull the full allocation. Now that we have been handed an advantage like that, I do not expect us to leave it unused.

The Ibrox club has already embarrassed itself. Its handling of this gave Celtic the opening to cause trouble. But it gave Celtic more than just a chance to cause some momentary hardship. Celtic is now in control of this process.

For Celtic to hand over those tickets, we will need more than some people at Ibrox saying, “yeah, we’ll do that, no problem.”

Would you accept their word for it? Would I? Nobody at Celtic is that dumb.

Nobody at Celtic put this much into the issue only to make sure there is no lasting impact. Do not forget that this came down to Celtic’s risk assessment. What is the point of that risk assessment, and the subsequent ban, if there are a hundred ways to get around it?

The home club is responsible for what happens inside its own stadium. That means if those fans get tickets anyway, Celtic will carry responsibility because we did not do enough to keep them out.

Since we now have the right to impose that ban on the Ibrox club, we have transferred some of the responsibility to them. I am damn sure we are not going to sit back and wait to see if 100 members of the Union Brats turn up on the day.

It amazes me how simplistically some people see this.

It is not simple at all.

This is a safety matter. This is a matter of major consequence. People are acting as if this is just another event. It is not.

This was not the Ibrox club taking a decision not to give tickets to the Union Brats. Celtic has banned them from the ground. We have told the Ibrox club they can only have tickets if that specific group does not get any. Anyone who does not think we are going to impose that condition is not paying attention.

So how does Celtic go about imposing that on Ibrox, while making them squirm a little bit?

Because, as I said, punishment is suffering.

Without suffering, there is no punishment.

It is important that Celtic not only enforces this, but enforces it in a way that makes the Ibrox club and its supporters feel the consequences a little. Otherwise, it has no teeth. We did not do all this to enforce a punishment that has no teeth. We are certainly not going to do that while our safety certificate is on the line.

The first thing Celtic should insist on is a written contractual undertaking that no tickets will be sold to the Union Brats section, their organisers, their travel groups or any known associates.

That document should contain the broadest possible definition of what that means, to stop the usual cute nonsense where tickets get distributed to ordinary fans who all somehow appear on the day in the same corner with the same banners and colours.

That is number one.

Secondly, Celtic would be crazy not to insist on full traceability for every ticket sold. Named purchasers. Client references. Purchasing history. No anonymous bulk allocations. No vague supporters’ bus lists. And absolutely no club discretion.

A full list of who has those tickets and who sits in those seats.

Liability has to pass to the named person in those seats. If something happens in those seats, or from those seats, Celtic must know exactly who was there. No supporters’ bus allocation should be handed over without those names attached.

We are past the point where trust works. Celtic has banned that specific fan group. That is non-negotiable. We can’t trust their club’s word for it either.

Here is the part that will hurt.

No transferability.

The present system under which Ibrox fans can swap their tickets with other fans should not apply to this game. Celtic should insist on that before handing over a single brief.

No passing tickets on or digital forwarding. No “my mate can’t go, so he gave me his.”

If the name on the ticket does not match the person presenting it on the day, the ticket is void.

Because here is the next requirement. ID checks and controlled distribution.

The cleanest version would be that Celtic insists the tickets are collection-only with ID, either through the Ibrox club under monitored conditions or through an agreed neutral controlled outlet. It would be a logistical nightmare.

Celtic might not want that logistical nightmare, but I know for certain that Ibrox absolutely doesn’t. If we decide to impose it on them, what choice do they have but to accept?

That is the position they are in now.

Next, Celtic should make it clear that there will be consequences if any organised group material surfaces. That means Union Brats banners, colours, signage or anything else which suggests an organised presence.

Our club should make it clear right now that it will consider that a violation of the agreement, and that it will result in full forfeiture of tickets for the next Celtic Park game, which will be the one at the start of next season.

We should also insist that Police Scotland and a safety officer from Ibrox sign off on the arrangements and verify that the conditions have been followed and met. That gives the whole thing an operational backbone and a structure it otherwise might not have.

This cannot be a gentleman’s agreement. We cannot have a gentleman’s agreement with the Ibrox club. There has to be an enforcement mechanism. That means Police Scotland and a safety officer should have to agree that the conditions have been met before a single ticket is handed over. Over their signatures.

Naturally, all this has to come with a breach clause.

If the Union Brats obtain tickets for this game, and the Ibrox club fails in its responsibilities at any stage, even at the last possible moment, Celtic should pull the allocation.

The club should also reserve the right to deny entry to anyone it believes obtained tickets through invalid routes. On top of that, it should push for sanctions that carry into next season.

Celtic must enforce all of this rigorously.

So, in summary, what should Celtic demand?

A named purchaser list. Clear allocation criteria. Written confirmation that no tickets passed through known Union Brats channels. Assurance that no grouped seating pattern exists, or will exist on the day, without consequences.

The Ibrox club must also name a security official who will personally certify all of this and sign off on it.

That is the level of seriousness required.

As I said at the start, punishment without pain is not punishment. Celtic are not just protecting the safety certificate. We are making a point, just as others have done throughout history when a defeated aggressor must atone. Every treaty between victor and vanquished carries consequences, both as punishment and as deterrent.

That is the really important part. Deterrence.

The Union Brats should know that their conduct will be watched by Celtic, even if not by anyone else. Of course, it will also be watched by other clubs. The very least that should happen here is that Celtic makes their club jump through some hoops.

I was trying to think of a historic parallel for this last night. There were loads of them, but the one I like best is what society did to the cigarette companies after decades of lying, obfuscating, cheating the public and withholding crucial information from customers.

It was not enough that we legislated them almost to the point of non-existence. It was not enough that they paid enormous sums in fines and compensation. We also rubbed their faces in it a little bit.

Here in the UK, we made them carry the stigma of those sins for the rest of their existence by putting blackened lungs and other disturbing images on the front of their packaging.

I don’t know how many smokers quit the first time they had to buy a packet like that. But I know a lot of people who might have started never got there.

The deterrent mattered.

So yes, punishment. But deterrence most of all.

Do not assume that the Ibrox club has various ways of getting around this. That depends on how hard Celtic wants to press them, and how hard we want to punch on this wound. If I were in the shoes of the people at Celtic dealing with this allocation issue, I would put the squeeze on them until you could hear the squealing in Larkhall.

They will get their tickets only if they comply.

If they do not want to comply, they will face a choice. Either Celtic withdraws the allocation for non-compliance and makes that public, announcing that it is not satisfied the Ibrox club intends to stick to the agreement, or they go through a painful and complicated process of proving that they have met every condition.

They only have a matter of days to show compliance. If I were them, I would not waste time writing statements or doing any more moaning. I would get on with it.

Because Celtic won the right to set the terms.

Now we need to make sure those terms bite.

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