Rangers and Celtic will both play their next Scottish Cup home ties behind closed doors after an appellate tribunal dismissed the clubs’ appeals against the sanction.
Tribunal Ruling and Penalties
The Glasgow clubs presented their cases to a Scottish FA appellate tribunal on Monday, but failed to overturn the spectator bans. In addition to the stadium closures, both clubs must pay £100,000 to the visiting club in their respective home matches in the national cup competition. However, the tribunal set aside a suspended ban on fans that had been slated for any future infractions.
Celtic criticised what they called an excessive and disproportionate punishment, stating that a false equivalence was drawn between their supporters entering the pitch in an emotional moment of celebration and the behaviour of Rangers fans. The club also argued they bore no responsibility for stadium safety arrangements at Ibrox and should not have faced the same penalty as Rangers. Meanwhile, Rangers have not yet commented on the appeal decision.
Background of the Disorder
The stadium closure penalty was initially announced in late August following fan disorder at the conclusion of last season’s quarter-final tie at Ibrox, which Celtic won following a penalty shoot-out. During the incident, supporters threw fireworks and other missiles, leading to injuries among police officers and resulting in 43 arrests by 25 August.
An independent review led by Mark Blackbourne and published in July concluded that the chaotic scenes came within a very small margin of becoming a violent mass confrontation. The report identified security failings by both clubs and criticised the SFA for failing to adopt a tougher stance against crowd disorder.
The latest disciplinary developments follow an agreement reached in September stipulating that away fans will not be permitted at any of the Old Firm derbies throughout this season’s SPFL competitions.
