SPFL backs Celtic in Rangers ticket allocation dispute over Union Bears fans

The SPFL has backed Celtic in a row over the allocation of away tickets for this month's final Old Firm meeting of the season with Rangers. Celtic offered Rangers around 2,400 tickets for the 10 May Scottish Premiership fixture, on condition none of the seats would be made available to the Union Bears fans group. Rangers said they could not agree to the terms and referred the matter to the SPFL board. A sub-committee concluded it would "not overrule" a risk assessment carried out by Celtic, who claim the Union Bears were in part responsible for disorder following the Scottish Cup quarter-final between the two clubs at Ibrox in March, which Celtic won on penalties. Celtic will not sell the offered Rangers allocation to home fans and the SPFL says it is now for the Ibrox club to decide if the allocation will be taken. The cup game was the fourth meeting of the sides this season at either Celtic Park or Ibrox to feature away supporters, following a period of no away allocations. However, the Scottish Cup tie had more away fans - 15% - because of the rules of that competition. 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". 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 confirmed that 5% of the stadium was a reasonable allocation for this fixture in terms of SPFL Rule I27." And an SPFL spokesperson said: "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."