Celtic, Motherwell and Rangers charged over fan pyrotechnics at semi-finals

Celtic, Motherwell and Rangers have been hit with disciplinary charges after fan pyrotechnic displays delayed kick-offs in last month’s Premier Sports Cup semi-finals. The Scottish Professional Football League has taken the unusual step of charging clubs for fan behaviour and publicising the issue. Celtic’s 6-0 win over Aberdeen on November 2 was held up for close to 15 minutes after smoke led to visibility issues and affected the functionality of the VAR system. Hoops fans spelled out a giant ‘CFC’ with flares while Aberdeen fans also let off red smoke bombs, on a smaller scale. Both Motherwell and Rangers fans let off smoke devices the following day and there was another, shorter delay to kick-off. An SPFL statement read: “It was fantastic to have over 80,000 supporters attend last month’s semi-finals, however, the large-scale, organised and illegal pyrotechnics displays which were carried out by a small minority of supporters before the Celtic v Aberdeen and Motherwell v Rangers matches were totally unacceptable. “This irresponsible behaviour by a minority of fans led to a 14-minute delay to Celtic v Aberdeen, a five-minute delay to Motherwell v Rangers and caused significant inconvenience to thousands of fans at the game and to supporters watching worldwide. “The SPFL, Scottish FA, Police Scotland and other organisations have been clear that such use of pyrotechnics is illegal and poses clear dangers and health and safety risks to fellow supporters, players and those working at matches. “There have been a number of complaints from supporters about these incidents and the SPFL and Scottish FA have been in ongoing discussions with the clubs involved in the weeks since the semi-finals. “The SPFL can now confirm that Celtic, Motherwell and Rangers have all been issued with formal notices of complaint under SPFL Rule H34 and each club will face a disciplinary hearing.” SPFL rules state that each club, “so far as is reasonably practicable”, must ensure that supporters do not engage in “unacceptable conduct”; that they identify any fans who engage in such conduct at a match; and take “proportionate disciplinary measures” on such supporters.