The conduct of Celtic supporters during a specific Scottish football match grabbed headlines last season. During the League Cup semi-final against Aberdeen and the subsequent victory over Rangers, Celtic fans ignited pyrotechnics, leading to a sanction from the SPFL.
In response, the governing body has decreased Celtic’s ticket allocation for the upcoming Premier Sports Cup game by 500 seats. If a similar offence occurs again, the sanction will escalate to 800 seats.
Similar incidents occurred in the Champions League, where pyrotechnics used by Celtic supporters against Aston Villa nearly resulted in a complete ban on ticket sales for the subsequent match against Bayern Munich.
Seeing the need for stricter measures, the SFA is set to implement a new rule next season, inspired by Celtic’s SPFL punishment. CEO Ian Maxwell has expressed a commitment to eliminating unruly fan behavior within Scottish football and has aligned the SFA’s guidelines on penalties with those of the SPFL.
Maxwell stated, “We need to eradicate dangerous fan behavior, and a rule change was approved at our AGM to bring us in line with the SPFL rules. It is crucial that both governing bodies address these issues similarly.”
Since Celtic’s SPFL punishment, Maxwell has observed an improvement in fan behavior across Scottish football. The threat of reduced ticket allocations seems to have had a positive impact, encouraging fans to reconsider their actions to avoid missing out on matches.
Despite these efforts, there have been recent incidents of misconduct in Scottish football. Motherwell manager Stuart Kettlewell resigned due to alleged fan abuse, and an Aberdeen supporter assaulted a Celtic player with a ripped-out seat. Aberdeen has also received a pyrotechnic charge from the SPFL following a match against Celtic.
While such incidents remain infrequent, it is too early to determine the full impact of the punishment handed to Celtic on improving fan behavior, especially in light of recent charges.
