(You can not make it up) Matthew Lindsay: Celtic’s latest UEFA fine shows that strict liability is an ass


THE list of offences committed by Celtic supporters during European matches in the past decade or so is a lengthy and damning one now.

The €12,500 (£11,013) fine which the Parkhead club were hit with by UEFA on Friday for the conduct of their fans in the Europa League play-off match against AIK in Stockholm last month was just the latest in a long line of punishments which have been meted out.

They have been repeatedly disciplined for a variety of their followers’ misdemeanours; displaying illicit banners, pro-IRA chanting, fighting, blocking stairways, invading the pitch and attempting to attack a player and, as was the case in Sweden, setting off flares and throwing objects. It was the 17th time since 2007 they have been reprimanded.

It has been impossible to defend the imbecilic actions of an element who follow the Scottish champions at times and hard to argue with the repercussions.
Yet, this particular rap is harsh and raises serious questions about the fairness and effectiveness of strict liability, which holds clubs responsible for how their fans behave regardless of the measures which they have taken to prevent trouble beforehand and to identify the culprits afterwards.

There has been widespread scepticism expressed about Celtic’s claim that supporters of Hammerby, AIK’s fierce local rivals, infiltrated their travelling supporters and were responsible for the unrest which flared in the stands at the Friends Arena.
The fights which broke out between baton-wielding police and spectators at half-time took place just behind a Green Brigade banner. Were no bona fide fans at all involved in the scuffles? Had they all nipped away to get their pies and Bovrils when it all kicked off? It seems highly unlikely given their track record.
That said, the away team had returned 1,000 of their 2,500 ticket allocation to their hosts in the build-up to the second leg tie. Their opponents were looking to attract a record European attendance. There would appear, then, to have been no shortage of briefs freely available to anyone, no matter what their allegiance, who wanted one. It is entirely plausible to suggest that Hammerby hooligans intent on causing disorder got in.

Indeed, one Celtic fan of my acquaintance, who had taken his teenage son to see his first European away game in Solna, this week confirmed to me there were several locals in their section of the stadium. The photographs of the clashes, one of which is shown above, back him and his club up. Have any of the individuals pictured ever been spotted in the East End. Not by me.
Did the control, ethics and disciplinary body of UEFA take that into account when they were ruling on the case on Thursday? In this instance, it does seem as if the Glasgow club have been rather severely dealt with. Aleksander Ceferin, the governing body’s president, and his staff need to take a serious look at the entire process.
Those who are against the introduction of strict liability in Scottish football have long claimed that it is far too open to abuse. What is to stop a particularly determined yob, they say, going to a rival club’s game, smuggling in a pyrotechnic and then igniting it in a deliberate attempt to get them into bother with the authorities?
Those who want to see more done to stamp out crowd disturbances in general and sectarian singing specifically in this country have suggested a range of sanctions including fines, shutting down stands and even docking points.

But there is invariably an outcry, not to mention a mass outbreak of paranoia, whenever a player is cited retrospectively by the SFA compliance officer for a foul which a referee had failed to spot or punish appropriately at the time and then banned at the moment. What would happen if, for instance, Rangers were forced to play a game behind closed doors? The game here would go into meltdown.
What happened in Stockholm and the consequences of it shows that strict liability would be beset by difficulties, could possibly even be unworkable, in the unlikely event that it, or something like it, ever got the go-ahead here.
My own view is that far more needs to be done than is currently the case to address what is an escalating and concerning issue. It is difficult to point the finger elsewhere when thousands of fans belt out bigoted chants. It is worth toughening up the existing rules to see if there any significant improvement. There is strong evidence that it works.
Rangers have fallen foul of strict liability legislation twice this season – for “racist behaviour” in their Europa League qualifiers against St Joseph’s at home in July and Legia Warsaw away last month – and been forced to close off sections of Ibrox in their home meetings with Legia and Feyenoord.
There have been inevitable cries about the injustice of it all and protestations of innocence –The Union Bears, the ultras group who were among those banished from the Warsaw match, accused the club of treating them with contempt and making them scapegoats. It was sooooo unfair!

However, the Group G match against Feyenoord on Thursday evening, as far as I could hear from my vantage point in the press gantry at least, passed off without the air being polluted by any sectarian bile.
Would that have be the case in an Old Firm match if Rangers had been hammered by the SFA for belting out The Billy Boys? It would be quite an achievement. It isn’t an easy thing to fix.
Still, it is definitely worth the SFA’s member clubs and the SPFL doing more than shrugging their shoulders and trotting out tired platitudes about it being a societal problem which Scottish football can do nothing about.
Wtf
 
Surely he's not getting a living out of writing shite like that?

That is orchestrated Liewell manipulation at its utmost...

Matthew, how can you live with yourself ya filthy knob?
 
The bottom line is, in this wee shitehole of a country, as a journalist or pundit, you can make a very decent living downing anything associated with our club.
Fu.ck every single one of the parasites.
 
TBB and Super Rangers were not sung at the last old firm - the guys a fuckin knobend.

The club seriously need to start rinsing these cun*s.
He didn't say they were. If we are to fight fire with fire we need to be accurate with what we say.
 
Would really love it if someone blew the whistle on what's exactly going on here. That article takes it to a new level,deserves a spot on Celtic tv.

What are the media running scared from in this country. I'm expecting a joint venture with russia today the way things are going. Is there not a Russian media outlet in Edinburgh called Sputnik? I would suggest they're getting trained up by them.
If anyone has ever watched RT,there is not and never is a bad word said against the russian govt. Sounds familiar.
 
Read the article again: he doesn't spare them. The first 3 paragraphs get into their ribs.

I don't agree with his view that the UEFA punishment was excessive, and clearly he's taking the piss when he talks about identifying Sellik fans, but ML is not a tim. IIRC, he's an ICT man.

Correct he is an Inverness fan it's where he is from.
 
Met him, know him, am familiar with his work.
He’s the Herald reporter for all things Celtic, however Inverness fan or not, he’s certainly on message.

Have a look at any of his recent articles, particularly around the recent Old Firm game - he no longer uses the term to describe these matches & it’s the “Glasgow derby” this, the “Glasgow derby” that.

I wonder who told him to do that...?
 
Behold an insight into the twisted mind of a brainwashed marionette.

I'm so glad I wasn't brought up in a cult or feel the need to pander to one.

It's so transparently illogical from the outside. But unbelievably, those within it's clutches will read that and agree with every word and sentiment, completely oblivious to it's hypocricy and irrationality.

Disturbing.
 
The locals in their end were probably plain clothes plod because of the great unwashed reputation for causing trouble , the Swedes were only pointing out the troublemakers .
 
In which case his sycophantic grovelling to them makes him much worse and not to be trusted.

Their apologists are bereft of any critical self-analysis. He’s incoherent, contradictory and kidding no one. Embarrassing agenda-led drivel for a professional writer or anyone with self-respect.
 
“For racist behaviour”

This is going to be repeated over and over again for the foreseeable future by the media and fans of other Scottish clubs when they know fine well there was nothing racist about it.
 
There is going to be a massive difference between a 6 foot plus thoroughbred Swede and wee Declan and big fat Seamus. The greasy hair, the lack of chin, the monobrow and two eyes you could poke with the one finger at the same time - the man has a point. You can tell a yahoo a mile off.
 
To be fair, he probably does know every fan since they all look the same.

Undernourished, unwashed, peely wally mono-brows with a fake Irish accent.
 
Hammerby fans did it, Celtic never do anything bad and crow bar Rangers into the story to stick the boot in.

IMO Herald/Evening Times are the most biased of all the SMSM, they are now nothing more than a mouthpiece for Celtic/IRA/SNP.

This is the paper of "Cameron - John (not real name) doesnt want compensation from Celtic", the most vile article written in the history of the SMSM.
 
Could be time for a tap on the shoulder from Dougie reminding the management of the importance of advertising revenue.
 
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