Rangers and Celtic face closed door sanctions
Rangers and Celtic face Scottish Cup sanctions with closed door matches due to crowd trouble issues.
Rangers and Celtic will play their next home ties in the Scottish Cup behind closed doors, according to the report. The Scottish FA has issued the punishment following the crowd trouble which marred last season’s quarter-final at Ibrox.
The two Glasgow teams will also have to pay the visiting side for their next home Scottish Cup fixture £100,000.
A second match stadium closure will be triggered if there is any trouble at a Scottish Cup fixture until the end of the 2027/28 season.
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It follows their Scottish Cup match at Ibrox in March when fans clashed on the pitch after a penalty shoot-out win for Celtic. This was the first Old Firm game at Ibrox since 2018 where Celtic were given the full Broomloan Stand, meaning there were around 7,500 away fans at the game.
The league match between Rangers and Celtic the previous weekend had around 2,500 away fans after an agreement between clubs to give around five per cent of stadium capacity to away teams for this fixture.
An independent review into the scenes previously concluded that “crushing” and “life-threatening violence” were narrowly avoided. The report, led by Mark Blackbourne, found that the Celtic Ultras were the first to enter the pitch in jubilation, with others following their lead.
The report called for incidents linked to Ultra groups to come down with heavier sanctions from the clubs.
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A total of 43 arrests have now been made after the scenes at Ibrox. Some visiting fans spilled onto the playing surface to celebrate after the winning spot-kick and supporters from the Rangers end charged towards them with fireworks thrown back and forth.
Celtic say they are “shocked” by the “disproportionate punishment”. They added that another important distinction is that, on this occasion, Celtic were not the home club, responsible for stadium safety arrangements.
Celtic will study the panel’s report and reasoning when it is available and will thereafter consider their next steps. The Scottish FA’s decision to impose a second match stadium closure if there is any trouble at a Scottish Cup fixture until the end of the season serves as a warning to both teams to ensure their fans behave in future matches.
