Celtic and Rangers have failed in their bids to overturn the Scottish FA’s decision to order their next home Scottish Cup ties to be played behind closed doors following the crowd trouble at Ibrox in March.
The clubs also lost their challenges against the £100,000 fines imposed on them, which must be paid to their opponents for the affected fixtures. However, their appeals did secure one significant change, with the suspended threat of a second closed-doors match - triggered by any further Scottish Cup disorder before the end of next season - being removed.
Celtic welcomed the partial success but criticised the punishment that remains in place. The club said it remained “extremely disappointed” by what it called an “excessive and disproportionate” sanction arising from a supporter incursion during a moment of “emotion and celebration.”
The Scottish champions argued that the Scottish FA had created a “false equivalence” between the actions of the two sets of supporters. The club said it did not defend fans entering the pitch, but believed the different nature of the behaviour should have been recognised.
The statement added that Celtic had no responsibility for stadium safety arrangements at Ibrox, a factor the club said appeared to have been overlooked when the sanctions were set. Rangers did not issue a statement after the appeal outcome.
The sanctions followed Celtic’s Scottish Cup quarter-final win over Rangers at Ibrox in March, which ended 0-0 before Celtic advanced 4-2 on penalties. After the winning kick, Celtic supporters invaded the pitch to celebrate, while Rangers supporters invaded the pitch to attack them, leading to confrontations, fireworks and missiles.
Police Scotland arrested 43 people after the disorder, after several officers and stewards were injured, along with a Celtic club official being attacked as well. It was the first Glasgow derby at Ibrox since 2018 to have a full away allocation, with around 7,500 Celtic fans present under Scottish Cup ticket rules.
The fallout from the Scottish Cup tie has already affected derby arrangements this season, with Rangers initially offering Celtic just 300 tickets for their League Cup meeting at Ibrox, citing the independent report and subsequent pitch invasions involving Celtic supporters; Celtic rejected the proposal, prompting the SPFL to rule that no away fans would attend Scottish Premiership or League Cup derby matches this season.
Rangers went on to win that League Cup quarter-final 3-0, with Derek McInnes earning his first derby victory as Rangers manager.