‘No commentary’ from Old Firm following Ibrox disorder, says police chief

Neither Old Firm club has come forward to condemn disorder among fans which marred the end of Sunday’s game, Police Scotland Chief Constable Jo Farrell has said.

Members of Holyrood’s Public Audit Committee heard from various members of Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority on Wednesday, and MSPs questioned the officials about the events at Ibrox which saw fans invade the pitch after Celtic beat Rangers on penalties in the Scottish Cup tie.

Nine people have been arrested following the disorder, which saw several police officers and members of the public injured.

Ms Farrell told MSPs: “The events of Sunday afternoon were absolutely disgraceful, and I condemn the people involved in violence.

“Fans, families, friends, people working at the clubs, my officers do not go to work within that environment to witness or be on the receiving end of threats and violence.

“I think that there’s a point of reflection that at the same time policing was responding to those events, members of the public were injured, officers were injured.

“Lots of coverage in the media in relation to the events of Sunday afternoon, when we got to Monday evening, there was still no commentary from either of those clubs in respect of the violence that was witnessed. Nobody came out to condemn that violence.”

Dozens of travelling fans entered the pitch to celebrate Celtic’s victory and more than 100 Rangers supporters charged to confront them.

Ms Farrell continued: “Policing has a key role in ensuring safety and addressing those issues, but putting more resource into that dynamic is not going to solve this problem, and it’s a broader societal issue that needs to be gripped by all the agencies that have a responsibility around football and the way in which fans conduct themselves.”

Reform MSP Graham Simpson asked Ms Farrell if there is a responsibility on the clubs to review how they allocate tickets to ensure those who are likely to cause such violence cannot attend games.

Ms Farrell said: “That would seem like an obvious action that needs to be considered and taken by either clubs.

“How do they ensure the safety of their broader fan base, and eliminate those individuals who come in and prepared, the balaclavas and the pyrotechnics, with the intent of causing disruption, harm to those other people around them.

“We now have an investigation, as you would expect, across all of the events of Sunday afternoon where crimes have been committed of violence and disorder, we will identify those people, and we’ll come after them.”

Rangers and Celtic have been asked for comment.