Celtic and Rangers face stadium bans after failed SFA appeals

Celtic and Rangers have lost their appeals against a Scottish Football Association (SFA) ruling requiring their next home Scottish Cup fixtures to be played behind closed doors. The decision follows pitch disorder during a quarter-final match at Ibrox in March, where Celtic secured a penalty shootout victory.

Both clubs must pay the visiting team £100,000 to compensate for lost ticket revenue. The incident involved significant violence, resulting in 37 arrests and assaults on police, coaching staff, and players. An SFA report noted that a ten-year-old child was struck by a coin and described the potential for “life-threatening” violence during the disorder.

While a review by safety consultant Mark Blackbourne identified differences in supporter behavior—characterizing Celtic fans as entering the pitch “in jubilation” and Rangers' Union Bears as “reactionary, confrontational, and overtly threatening”—the tribunal upheld the stadium bans. Celtic has issued a statement calling the punishment “excessive and disproportionate,” arguing that a “false equivalence” was drawn between the two groups of supporters.