Smoke bombs let off among #celtic fans at Stranraer pic.twitter.com/qNeEociTIY
— Ronnie Esplin (@RonnieEsplin) January 10, 2016
CELTIC have banned three of the club’s supporters after smoke bombs were thrown onto the pitch during Sunday’s Scottish Cup clash against Stranraer.
The club today announced the indefinite suspension of the individuals from future Celtic matches, following their 3-0 win victory at Stair Park.
The three fans were condemned for their use of pyrotechnics during the match, and in a statement, Celtic said that their actions caused embarrassment to the club and that an investigation will be carried out.
The statement continued:
We should be very clear. Those responsible simply do not care about our Club, our reputation or the safety of our fans and we do not want them at our matches. The Club will be reviewing its ticket allocation procedures to ensure that this matter is addressed.
Ensuring the safety of our supporters and staff is always of paramount importance to Celtic Football Club. If such behaviour was to continue, the reality is it would only be a matter of time before serious injury is caused. However, we will not allow safety to be compromised by the actions of a tiny minority.
…We cannot and will not allow this minority to destroy the magnificent reputation which our fans have earned over many years.
Police Scotland have also launched a post-match investigation into complaints of anti-social behaviour, including use pyrotechnic devices, smoke bombs and firecrackers, and sectarian singing.
Following the match, Celtic manager Ronny Deila criticised the actions of the disruptive fans.
“We don’t want this,” said Deila. “It’s something that is making a bad reputation for the club. So this is absolutely something we need to get stopped.
“It is not positive for anybody and we, as a club, don’t want to have anything to do with this. It’s not my job – but I’m a part of this club.”
