Fan violence in football 'shrugged off', says police chief

Fan violence in Scottish football is being "shrugged off" due to a lack of accountability from clubs and the game's authorities, Police Scotland's chief constable has said.

Jo Farrell told the Scottish Police Authority board that clubs whose supporters cause trouble should face tougher sanctions, including reductions in the number of fans allowed to attend matches.

She said punishments like cutting fan allocations would help solve the problem.

Her comments came after disorder at several games towards the end of the season, including high-profile matches between Celtic and Rangers in the Scottish Cup and the Premiership title decider between Celtic and Hearts.

A total of 47 arrests have been made in relation to those two matches, which both featured pitch invasions.

Police Scotland told the BBC they have not received any complaints from Hearts over alleged assaults on their players after the Celtic match.

Two police officers were injured in Glasgow city centre after Celtic beat Hearts 3-1 to dramatically win the league title on the last day of the season, as fans of the Parkhead side gathered in the Trongate area to celebrate their triumph.

Farrell said trouble connected to football was escalating in the country and it was becoming a "significant public safety issue" that affected communities and businesses.

She said: "Policing has a strong part to play in football, but there is no doubt that accountability and ownership is lacking around football in Scotland.

"Disorder, violence and thuggery is unchecked and is allowed to be shrugged off.

"I think there is an absolute necessity for the two football authorities - the SFA and the SPFL - to strengthen their regulatory framework around football, and to be clear with the public, the clubs and the fans what the sanctions are going to be if there are pitch invasions, for example."

Farrell said these sanctions could include cutting fan allocations by 20%, then 40% and eventually a complete ban, meaning clubs would have to play games essentially behind closed doors with no spectators.

She argued European football's governing body Uefa has had success with this approach for its competitions, such as the Champions League and Europa League.

The chief constable added: "What I am not seeing is a very clear intent from the football authorities (about) what are the sanctions and what are the strong and visible measures they are going to take to control fan behaviour.

"There is a lot of work to be done across stakeholders in Scottish football to get this under control."

She said that while police could arrest people, several months would often pass before they appeared in court, meaning there was no immediate consequences for, say, a pitch invasion.

The SPFL said it had been "repeatedly clear that there is no place for disorder in the Scottish game".

A spokesman said: "We have concluded 11 disciplinary processes against eight clubs this season, and last week announced five further investigations about incidents in the final weeks of the campaign.

"There is a need for all stakeholders to work together to address the challenges of unacceptable conduct at matches, including pitch encroachments and pyrotechnic use."

Justice Secretary Neil Gray said there was "absolutely no excuse for disorder at football or the disgraceful scenes of violence, vandalism and antisocial behaviour that took place in Glasgow this month".

He added: "The Scottish government continues to look at actions we can take, including work we already have in hand with regards to expanding the scope of Football Banning Orders, but governing bodies and individual clubs must act decisively and implement genuine deterrents to help address and tackle misconduct."

Fans stormed the pitch after Celtic scored their third goal deep into stoppage time during the title decider, prompting Hearts to criticise Celtic, saying it had created a "menacing and threatening atmosphere".

The Glasgow side apologised to Hearts, but manager Martin O'Neill argued that it was "nonsense" to say the scenes had embarrassed Scottish football.

BBC Scotland News also spoke to several businesses in the Trongate who shut early that day, ahead of Celtic fans taking over the area to party.

The local businesses queried why an official fan party could not be held somewhere, but Glasgow City Council said this would need to be organised by the club, as the local authority could not foot the bill for it.

Other matches being investigated include Motherwell v Celtic at Fir Park on 13 May, Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Hamilton Academical in League 1 on 2 May, Hamilton's League 1 play-off second-leg win against Clyde at Broadwood on 15 May and Stenhousemuir v Alloa Athletic on 16 May.

Police and fans were also injured after both Celtic and Rangers fans invaded the pitch following March's Scottish Cup quarter-final.

Scotland head coach Steve Clarke said last week that fans spilling on to the pitch to celebrate is a bad look for the game.