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Celtic and Rangers ordered to play Scottish Cup home ties behind closed doors
The Scottish Football Association issued the sanctions and £100,000 opponent compensations after fan disorder at a March quarter-final.
The short version
- Scottish football rivals Celtic and Rangers must play their next home Scottish Cup fixtures without fans following severe spectator disorder in last season's quarter-final.
- Both clubs must pay £100,000 in compensation to the opponents they draw in those upcoming matches.
- The penalties follow an independent review of a March shootout at Ibrox that warned the situation narrowly avoided becoming a violent mass confrontation.
Key facts
- The Scottish Football Association (SFA) ordered Celtic and Rangers to play their next home Scottish Cup matches behind closed doors.[BBC News]
- Both clubs are required to pay £100,000 to the opposing team they are drawn against for those respective matches.[BBC News]
- The clubs face a suspended sanction of an additional home match without fans if their supporters engage in further unacceptable conduct during a Scottish Cup fixture.[BBC News]
- The penalties stem from a March quarter-final at Ibrox where a Celtic penalty shootout victory was followed by pitch invasions, thrown pyrotechnics and missiles, police injuries, and arrests.[BBC News]
- An independent review led by Mark Blackbourne found that the post-match disorder came within a "very small margin" of becoming a violent mass confrontation, and faulted both clubs as well as the SFA.[BBC News]
- The closed-door sanctions are expected to take effect during the Scottish Cup fourth-round stage in mid-January, when both teams enter the tournament.[BBC News]