So today the SFA finally rendered a decision in the disciplinary case involving events at Ibrox, and I think that in terms of the punishment Celtic received, it is disproportionate – the club’s own word – and absolutely preposterous.
This club cannot take that lying down, and our statement suggests that we won’t.
Celtic had better appeal to whichever body is able to hear it, and this club had better make absolutely clear its disgust at the decision the SFA has come to, because there is no universe in which that punishment is reasonable or balanced in terms of what our fans are alleged to have done on the day.
A full stadium closure for a home tie in the Scottish Cup is disgusting.
It is an unacceptable sanction. The £100,000 fine is probably more proportionate, but the total cost to Celtic will be far in excess of that once you consider what a full stadium means in terms of overall revenue.
For Ibrox, it is a minor disaster, but they deserve it because of the conduct of their club and their supporters in the run-up to the game, during the game and after it.
There is no universe in which a sanction like that should ever have applied equally to us. It is the first time in my living memory that the away club has been punished at this level for the failures of the home team, and Celtic simply cannot accept a sanction of this severity without pushing the matter as far as we possibly can.
I am not suggesting that we stamp our feet, demand that the punishment be scrapped and start making threats we cannot back up. But whatever avenues are available to Celtic in terms of a response, we have to use them.
Because what exactly is this sanction being applied to us for?
Our fans were on the pitch. Is this now the punishment for supporters entering the field? Because I am dying to see how consistently that standard is applied over the course of this season and future seasons.
Was it because there was some graffiti and stickers put on seats? Again, I am going to go out on a limb and suggest that this is not exactly new to football and certainly not something for which a sanction like this has ever previously been imposed.
Was it what happened at the gates? There are numerous examples of incidents like that happening at other grounds, at other times and in other places, and never before has it resulted in a sanction like this.
Right from the start, we have all been very clear that there was only one thing that day which turned an ugly situation into an exceptionally dangerous one, and that was the reaction of the home support to Celtic winning the match. It really is as simple as that.
The only thing which elevated this from being a normal, if toxic, Glasgow derby was home supporters invading the pitch armed and attempting to reach our fans.
The report makes clear that this transformed an ugly situation into a dangerous one, and for Celtic to receive the same punishment when the two sets of circumstances are grossly unequal to each other is astonishing, disgusting and cowardly from the governing body.
By all means, if you believe what Celtic supporters engaged in that day was serious, apply a sanction in relation to those events. But apply a proportionate sanction in keeping with previous punishments handed out for those kinds of incidents.
To make what happened that day into some plague-on-both-your-houses exercise, when the two situations are not remotely comparable, when the reactions of the two sets of supporters were not remotely comparable and when the attitudes of the two clubs afterwards were not remotely comparable, is an appalling abrogation of the SFA’s responsibility to handle this evenly and proportionately.
It is not proportionate to treat both clubs as equally culpable. It is not proportionate to punish both sets of supporters in the same way.
The atmosphere at Ibrox that day was abysmal. The whole match was characterised by naked racist and sectarian singing from their support, as every derby at that stadium has been since time immemorial. At least one Celtic official was attacked during those events, and this too is not exactly unprecedented at that ground.
We have waited like a monument to patience for action after previous attacks and assaults on Celtic players and officials, without any meaningful response from the so-called governing bodies which have repeatedly demonstrated that they simply do not want to govern.
This was a very simple situation to handle.
Separate what the supporters of both clubs were responsible for and punish each in proportion to the act. Look at the responsibilities both clubs had for the event and punish each in proportion to their failures. Not difficult.
Had the Ibrox club alone suffered the stadium-closure penalty, that would have been proportionate. That would have been in keeping with the seriousness of the situation. To punish both clubs in exactly the same way makes Celtic responsible for their failures and their conduct, when in fact we should only be held responsible for our own.
Nobody at Celtic would have expected to escape without any sanction at all from this investigation. Nobody.
But to punish both clubs equally, in the same way, when there was no collective responsibility, when this was not a collective failure and when there were two separate types of failure, two separate areas of responsibility and two very different responses from the supporters, is one of the most dishonest decisions I can remember in Scottish football.
If you want to punish Celtic for a pitch invasion, a stand incursion, some graffiti and slogans, punish us accordingly. Punish us for those things in accordance with previous precedent.
But it was not our supporters who armed themselves and charged onto the pitch attempting to reach rival fans. It was not our supporters who masked up and confronted the police line determined to get at and harm rival fans.
That was theirs. And in the aftermath, it was not our club which denied responsibility for the behaviour of supporters and said it would stand by them.
The punishment only fits the crime if you regard both sides as equally culpable or if you regard the behaviour of their fans to have some equivalence. I do not know how any rational person could have reached that conclusion in respect of these charges.
The media can write whatever cowardly shit it wants. The governing body is supposed to govern according to rules, regulations and standards, and it has spectacularly failed to separate these incidents into two different categories and punish each club according to what it actually did or failed to do.
This Celtic board is already on trial with its own supporters for the weak and pathetic way it allowed our name to be smeared in the aftermath of those incidents and the ones which followed at Celtic Park against Hearts.
If it had remained silent today, if it had failed to object in the strongest possible terms and failed to condemn this sentence as the travesty that it is, then it would have looked even weaker and more gutless than it already does.
But as I was writing this article, Celtic responded. And on this occasion, the club has got the tone right.
Celtic says it is “shocked by this disproportionate punishment for a relatively small incursion by Celtic supporters at a moment of emotion and celebration.” That is exactly the distinction the SFA has spectacularly failed to make.
The club also makes clear that it has never defended supporters entering the field and has repeatedly taken action when that happens. Again, that matters because nobody at Celtic is claiming our supporters did nothing wrong or should face no consequence.
The point is proportionality.
Celtic’s statement goes straight to the heart of the issue when it says the club “would have expected the context and distinction in behaviours to have been taken into account by the Panel.” Exactly. That is the entire argument.
Context. Distinction. Proportionality.
Those are precisely the things this punishment obliterates by arriving at effectively the same sanction for two clubs whose failures and whose supporters’ conduct were fundamentally different.
And Celtic goes further, making the other point which absolutely had to be made: “Another important distinction is that, on this occasion, Celtic were not the home club, responsible for stadium safety arrangements.”
That matters enormously. Celtic were the visiting club. We were not responsible for the stadium. We were not responsible for its safety arrangements. We were not responsible for the wider environment inside Ibrox.
And yet Celtic has been handed the same stadium sanction as the club which was.
That is indefensible.
The statement finishes by saying Celtic will study the panel’s report and reasoning when it becomes available and will then consider its next steps.
Good. Study every line of it.
Then challenge it.
Because this club cannot simply accept a sanction like.
It is up to the people whose responsibility starts and stops with Celtic to respond in the most robust way which is feasible, practical and open to us. Today’s statement is a start, and it is a considerably stronger response than some of us feared we might get.
But it cannot be the end of it.
If there is an appeal mechanism, use it. If there is another route to challenge the proportionality of this punishment, use that too. Push this as far as the available process allows.
Celtic should absolutely accept responsibility for what Celtic supporters actually did.
Our club has been consistent, and clear, on that right from the start.
What Celtic should not accept is responsibility for what happened around them, responsibility for the failures of the home club or a punishment constructed as though there was no meaningful distinction between the conduct on either side.
Enough of this plague-on-both-your-houses bullshit.
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Coming on top of tuesday night, I am flaming raging. To hell with appeals. The so called ‘establishment’ cant punish their favourites without putting the boot into us too. So lets go for foot stamping for the first time in two centuries. Tell them to either rescind or we withdraw participation in the cup. Lets throw a grenade in among the anti celtic crew. As far as the cup is concerned, lets do a Belfast Celtic
The Bunnet took them to court for harming his business without cause and won, and that was just over one dreary wee man’s petty spite. This is a manifestly unjust and disproportionate punishment, and if the invertebrates that make up our current board are inclined towards action rather mere posturing, it’s time to get the lawyers involved…..
I don’t understand this ruling, what happened to the home club’s responsibilities? This is from the website on security at Scottish football grounds:
The Host Club: Under rules from governing bodies like the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the home club holds direct operational and legal accountability for crowd safety, stewarding, and ground security on match days.Safety Management
Hierarchy: Day-to-day command is led by the club’s Head of Safety and Security Operations, acting under the Board of Directors, alongside a designated Duty Safety Officer whose decisions during a match are final.
The time for reacting to this one side is as bad as the other shite in Scottish Football has come. The Celtic Board have got to say enough is enough. Numerous assaults on our staff, glass placed in our penalty area, The lack of proper security for Celtic staff and supporters visiting Ibrox has been obvious for years, nothing was done to make the Ibrox club improve security and a major incident was bound to happen.
Celtic have had a continuous dispute with their Ultras resulting in bans for months at a time, yet The Rangers have not only failed to sanction the Union Brats, but have defended their behaviour.
The SFA have taken the easy route of equal responsibility and shown what cowards they are.
If there no change to this decision, then withdraw from the Scottish Cup in protest at this ridiculously lazy and cowardly decision.
totally agree. Withdraw and the other clubs lose the revenue celtic brings to them. The sfa will choke on their decision if we withdraw. It will diminish the whole competition and draw headlines from around the world. We need to show then once and for all that we wont be shoved around
The sfa have shat themselves and their bed and are just scared of the uproar from the orks and the media if they didn’t give out the same punishment. The action of fans was not equal. Our fans were celebrating. Their “fans” were out to injure, maim and possibly kill some Celtic fans as was evidenced by the weapons they had snuck in and were parading across the pitch. There was chat of fireworks/flares being thrown by both fans. Rubbish – they were thrown by home fans into the Celtic support- what are the celtic fans supposed to do????( dance around the flares???? Of course your instinct is to pick it up and throw it away from you as christ knows what could be in that device. While our fans shouldn’t have been on the pitch the responsibility and therefore blames lies very clearly with the home club and the authorities- ie the police for not controlling the home fans correctly. This os a shocking decision and must be fought with every resource Celtic can muster
It’s a strange punishment as it’ll hurt whoever we play too but I’d accept it if they could detail what we’re being punished for. As for the tribute act getting the same punishment, that can’t possibly make sense. We all seen it on tv, I’m not defending our fans for going on the pitch or rushing the turnstiles but how can they treat it all the same as fans running on to fight NOT celebrate, hit stewards and coaches, and throw fireworks into a crowd of people? Coupled with the home team having responsibility for stadium safety?
Our board have been notoriously harsh in dealing with our ultras while the tribute act do nothing, maybe now the board will see it doesn’t get them any brownie points with the huns in the sfa.
James, you have already written articles welcoming strict liability, and I commented along with others that the Celtic support would be punished moreso than anyone else, that we would not get a fair crack of the whip. This is surely the proof of those comments, and you were way incorrect in even suggesting it.
We have never been fairly treated in this bigoted wee country, and it is not suddenly going to change unless we kick up fuck and use the legal system fight the obvious bias applied. We surely have lawyers that can sort these fuckers out.
We cannot accept this decision. It stinks of cowardice by the SFA (both sets of fans were on the pitch so same punishment) and gives no sanction on the lack of effective security by the home team – how on God’s earth did the metal poles get into the stadium? – nor for the clear violent intent from the Sevco fans. Appeal and see them in court.
Your correct in everything you say, Johnny Green is correct as well regarding strict liability. This is a cover up for hun management and Police Scotland failures and cowardice in dealing with the hun hordes. Why are the cops scared of them, is it because they are useful in other ways. Everyone knows the statistics on state run agents amongst loyalist paramilitaries (98.5%) just saying like, they can’t lift their grasses.
Armed forces day adverts are you for real?
Announce via official channels that we are pulling out of the cup. And make it clear we will remain in cup boycott mode until the governing bodies punish accordingly. That under no circumstances will we ever accept equal responsibility for what happened on that day. Make it publicly known that the home club failed in its security commitments. And that Celtic will take no blame for those failures. Time to put a stop to the cowards’ plague on all your houses crap. Stand up Celtic. For once in your parasitical lives, Desmond & Co, stand up for Celtic’s fanbase.
And tell the scummy cowardly football authorities that you will see them in Court.