Celtic and Rangers have failed to condemn Old Firm violence, says chief constable

Celtic and Rangers have been slammed by Scotland’s top police officer for failing to condemn violence and disorder which broke out following Sunday’s Old Firm derby.

Fans clashed on the field after Celtic knocked Rangers out of the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup on penalties.

Dozens of Celtic fans ran onto the pitch in celebration, followed by hundreds of Rangers fans who were able to breach the stewards.

Police have so far confirmed nine arrests following the violence, which saw officers, supporters, members of coaching staff, and players assaulted.

A ten-year-old child was also struck by a coin as items, including pyrotechnics, were thrown by supporters.

Speaking at the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday, chief constable Jo Farrell condemned the clubs for not addressing the incident.

“Members of the public were injured, officers were injured, lots of coverage in the media in relation to the events of Sunday afternoon “, she said.

“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.

“We can put more and more resources into football, but that doesn’t solve the underlying issue that people should be able to attend those events without fearing for their safety.”

It was also revealed that mounted officers were on standby to intervene in the disorder, which lasted around ten minutes.

Deputy chief constable Alan Speirs added: “Within 90 seconds, and when you’re watching that footage it seems like a very long while, but within 90 seconds we had a cordon in place.

“The assurance that I could give you is that our next phase, had that escalated, would have been to bring a significant number of horses, and we would’ve used our mounted officers, and others had that been required.”

Following the incident, Rangers fans left the stadium while Celtic supporters were held back inside Ibrox.

Three men, aged 54, 23 and 20, were arrested and charged in connection with a serious assault of a man on Helen Street following the match.

The teams are due to face off again in the post-Premiership split next month, but the allocation of away fans will be smaller than that of Sunday’s Scottish Cup game.

7,500 away tickets were given to Celtic for Sunday’s match at Ibrox to comply with Scottish Cup rules.

However, police have now said that it is “unlikely” that an allocation of the same size seen on Sunday would be allowed unless significant action and conversations are had between police, clubs, the SFA and the local authority.

Chief constable Farrell added that the force would “identify those involved and come after them”.

Police confirmed on Monday that a 47-year-old man was arrested and charged in connection with an assault on a coach and player at the end of the match. He was released to appear at a later date.

There were also other arrests in relation to a number of offences, including abuse towards officers and culpable and reckless conduct.

Vandalism and graffiti within the stadium are also being investigated after the Broomloan Stand at Ibrox was defaced.