Celtic & Rangers cited after unrest ‘near miss’ at Ibrox
Rangers and Celtic face disciplinary charges over the unrest that followed their Scottish Cup meeting at Ibrox in March.
The Scottish Football Association has issued identical notices of complaints to both clubs as it published the independent review on the events surrounding the quarter-final tie.
Both are accused of breaching the SFA’s rule 37, which centres on “good order and security” and “unacceptable conduct”.
The rule covers “policies and procedures” and whether clubs take appropriate measures to identify and deal with supporters who engage in unacceptable conduct.
The clubs face hearings on 13 August.
There were clashes on the pitch after eventual cup-winners Celtic prevailed via a penalty shoot-out on 8 March.
Some visiting fans spilled onto the playing surface to celebrate, with home supporters then trying to confront them as fireworks were thrown back and forth.
At least 37 people have been arrested over the trouble, which resulted in injuries to police and stewards.
Meanwhile, the review describes the events of 8 March as as “a near miss”, saying the ugly scenes “came within a very small margin of becoming a violent mass confrontation”.
Lead author Mark Blackbourne also states that a “crushing incident was a real and foreseeable risk” due to “non-compliant Ultra group fans surging past police and stewards”.
The report adds: “Ultra groups exercise a power over clubs and the wider supporter base that is disproportionate to their size” and that “there seems to be no independent external scrutiny of the clubs’ or Police Scotland’s operational plans for high-risk fixtures”.