SPFL will not overrule Celtic in derby ticket row

A Scottish FA investigation, led by sports event consultant Mark Blackbourne, has yet to report to the governing body on the cup tie.

The Ibrox club stressed they had “been clear in condemning the actions of certain individuals on 8 March” and had been “attempting to work with Celtic to mitigate any security concerns for the upcoming match”.

Rangers added that, for the forthcoming match that will help decide who wins a three-pronged title race involving leaders Hearts and the two Old Firm sides, “the removal of away supporters from one of the defining fixtures of the competition would introduce a clear and material sporting imbalance”.

Celtic had demanded the exclusion of a section of the Rangers support they say “identifiably engaged in serious violence and disorder”. The club expressed “surprise and disappointment” that Rangers had not agreed to the request and that they were happy to hold discussions with their rivals and the league body.

The defending champions added their “priority will always be the safety of those attending Celtic Park and, following a detailed risk assessment with regards to the forthcoming match, the club has made a reasonable request of Rangers FC that tickets are not distributed to a section of supporters which very recently and identifiably engaged in serious violence and disorder involving Celtic supporters, staff, police and stewards”.

What the SPFL reported

In the SPFL’s statement on Friday afternoon, the league body explained a hearing had taken place the day before “in front of an independent SPFL board sub-committee during which both clubs presented evidence and legal arguments”.

“The sub-committee noted the following:

It was extremely regrettable that the two clubs had been unable to reach an agreement between themselves
A reciprocal agreement is in place between the two clubs which provides that each club should allocate around 5% of their stadium to the away club
The home club in SPFL matches is responsible for safety and security in terms of SPFL Rule H36
The last match between the two clubs (in the Scottish Cup) featured widespread disorder and led to the governing body for Scottish football, the Scottish FA, announcing an independent review into the match. That report has not yet been published, and the sub-committee was therefore in a position where it did not have the benefit of any lessons to be learned from that match when considering the matter
The referral to the SPFL board for a determination was made just 16 days before an important league fixture at a time of intense scrutiny on the Scottish game
Celtic, as the party responsible for the safety and security of the event, had imposed an additional condition on the distribution of away tickets that it considered necessary and proportionate for managing safety and security
Subject to that condition being agreed, Celtic remains willing to offer the amount of tickets to Rangers that they had undertaken to provide in their reciprocal agreement and that allocation remains available to Rangers
The sub-committee then determined that, based on the evidence presented, it would not overrule a risk assessment carried out by the party legally responsible for the safety and security of the event, or interfere with the mitigation measures it considered to be necessary to comply with SPFL Rule H36. Having reached that conclusion, the sub-committee verified that 5% of the stadium was a reasonable allocation for this fixture in terms of SPFL Rule I27.”

And an SPFL spokesperson reported: “We note the decision of the independent sub-committee. We have been consulting with all clubs for months regarding the rules in this area and had achieved consensus that the current deadline of 14 days before a match for a referral to the SPFL board is insufficient to allow a proper forensic analysis of the circumstances.

“Following discussion at the SPFL’s Rules & Regulations Working Group, we had intended to table a resolution at the June AGM to bring forward the deadline to 35 days prior to a fixture and will now take time to reflect on this decision.”

Rohl will ‘cross my fingers and hope’ for away fans

Celtic and Rangers have been asked for a response about the recent development.

Rangers head coach Danny Rohl was asked about the ticket dispute at his Friday morning media conference.

Rohl believes there should be supporters from both sides at every game of football and all he can do is “cross my fingers and hope”.

Celtic play Hibernian away on Sunday and Rangers visit league leaders Hearts the following day, with the next fixture for both Glasgow sides being the derby on 10 May.

So far this season, the sides have drawn in the Premiership at Ibrox twice and Rangers won their last league visit to Celtic Park in December.

As well as their recent cup win at Ibrox, Celtic also defeated Rangers after extra time at Hampden in November’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final.