Rangers and Celtic have been ordered to play their next home Scottish Cup matches behind closed doors and pay £100,000 each following pitch invasions at last season's Celtic-Rangers quarter-final. The Scottish FA's punishment comes after a week in which both Glasgow clubs suffered humiliating exits from European competitions.
Celtic's Champions League collapse
Celtic contrived to miss out on the Champions League league phase despite leading 4-0 on aggregate at one stage of their tie against Lask, in what was widely described as an act of self-sabotage. The result was viewed as a collective embarrassment for Scottish football, though Rangers fans initially took delight in their rivals' misfortune.
However, any joy at Ibrox was short-lived. Rangers had already been eliminated from the Europa League preliminaries by a Polish team, and then lost on penalties to Jablonec in the Europa Conference League, following a performance that left head coach Derek McInnes visibly mortified.
McInnes takes responsibility
“I'm embarrassed with the performance,” McInnes said. “It wasn't a good performance at any stretch of the imagination. I'm mortified by the performance. I'll take responsibility for the result, but the responsibility is shared. The players have got to be better than that.”
The defeat meant Rangers failed to secure European group-stage football for the first time in nine years. McInnes, who arrived at Ibrox from Hearts in a high-profile summer switch, has yet to secure a first win in the Scottish Premiership and is already under serious scrutiny, though his job is not yet in danger.
Scottish FA sanctions both clubs
The Scottish FA's decision to punish both clubs equally comes after Celtic's Scottish Cup quarter-final win over Rangers at Ibrox, which was marred by unseemly pitch invasions. Both clubs have been told they face a second home match without fans if there is a further incident of “unacceptable conduct” in a Scottish Cup fixture.
While fans of each Glasgow team have traditionally argued their own unacceptable conduct is more acceptable than that of their rivals, the punishment meted out to both clubs is exactly the same, ensuring a brutal week for Scottish football ends with both giants facing identical sanctions.
