Scottish Government criticises Rangers over fans breaching restrictions during title celebrations
The Scottish Government has criticised Rangers’ handling of fans breaching coronavirus lockdown rules to celebrate the club’s title triumph over the weekend.
Thousands of fans gathered outside Ibrox and in Glasgow’s George Square to celebrate the triumph on Sunday.
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon hit out at the “infuriating and disgraceful” scenes which threaten Scotland’s lockdown easing and saw 28 arrests and seven fixed penalty notices issued.
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I share folks’ anger at this. Everyone has made so many sacrifices in the past year & seeing a minority risk our progress is infuriating & disgraceful. It is deeply unfair to the entire country, and the police have a hard enough job already. Please ask fans to go home @RangersFC https://t.co/haH5DAzhIh
And Deputy First Minister John Swinney has also accused the newly-crowned champions of not doing enough to encourage fans to stay at home, saying “the silence from Rangers was deafening”.
Speaking at the Scottish Government’s daily coronavirus briefing, he said: “The Government and Police Scotland reminded Rangers of the need to advise fans to adhere to the current restrictions in discussions on February 26 and March 5.
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“It is a matter of profound regret that that did not happen.
“The Scottish Government will be making our extreme disappointment at the lack of leadership clear to the team management and will be speaking to all the authorities about what further assurance they can give ahead of future planned games.
“On messaging, I think it would have been of essential advantage to all of us – indeed I think it would have been the duty of Rangers – to say clearly and simply to fans that they should not come out to celebrate and when they did, they should have gone home.
“But the silence from Rangers was deafening.”
In response, Rangers released a statement on Monday saying they will continue to maintain “a cohesive message” on safety advice and pointed to remarks made by manager Steven Gerrard at his press conference on Friday in which he urged fans to “abide by the Government rules and respect social distancing”.
The statement read: “We have proactively engaged with our local MP, the Justice Minister, the Scottish Government, Police Scotland and the SPFL in relation to maintaining a cohesive message regarding public safety during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We understand the jubilance of our support across the world who recognise this has been a historic year for the club.
“Nevertheless, it has been of great frustration for all football fans across the world that they have not been able to watch their team within stadiums, especially for the loyal Rangers season ticket holders who have stood by this football club through thick and thin in the last decade.”
Club Statement: https://t.co/6uQBRrUUSP pic.twitter.com/d4nO7GwY1Y
The statement ended by saying the club looked forward to further open dialogue with the government, police, SPFL and other key stakeholders.
The club also played out a repeated message on the tannoy at Ibrox on Sunday asking the crowds to disperse, and advising them that no players or staff would be present at the stadium.
Celtic’s failure to beat Dundee United on Sunday ensured Gerrard’s side were crowned Scottish champions for the first time since the 2010/11 season.
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