Celtic Ultras boycott Premier Sports Cup clash with Rangers | OneFootball

The Celtic Ultras groups have decided to boycott Celtic’s Premier Sports Cup Semi Final with Rangers. The Green Brigade and Bhoys Celtic have announced that they will be taking action against the collective punishment imposed by the SPFL and the ongoing issues with fan engagement.

In a statement earlier this afternoon on Instagram, the group shared their decision to boycott the game at Hampden next month.

🔗 Instagram

“Last year, the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) introduced yet another short-sighted anti-fan initiative in their, as of yet, unsuccessful attempt to limit the use of pyrotechnics in football stadiums in Scotland.

“This ‘disciplinary process’ involves cutting the ticketing allocation given to clubs with no clear reasoning or logic on which matches are affected.

“It has been confirmed that for our match against Rangers in the League Cup semi-final on the 2nd of November, both sets of fans will have their allocations cut by 500 tickets as ‘punishment’ for the use of pyrotechnics in various Premiership and League Cup matches.

“While there are differing views on the use of pyrotechnics in stadiums, it is our view that collective punishment of hundreds of fans, in all cases substantially more than those involved in the use of pyrotechnics is yet another draconian anti-football-fan move that damages the game in Scotland, and sets a dangerous precedent that we do not wish to normalise.

“This is particularly important as, rather than work in conjunction with supporters, the footballing authorities have instead introduced a punishment designed to have fans turn against each other.

“We maintain that draconian sanctions offer no long term solution to this perceived problem. As with all fan issues, this can only be found through positive engagement and open dialogue with supporters.

“As a result, we as a group will not be in attendance at the League Cup semi-final, despite, on this occasion, the ban not being enforced against our tickets.

“We refuse to entertain ‘business as usual’ while supporters of both clubs are unfairly penalised.”

This decision was followed with an update from Green Brigade, who issued a more detailed statement in which they revealed that they had received no tickets from the club. The GB also confirmed that they would not be in attendance and sought to use the Celtic Fans Collective to help drive change at the club, especially given the use of collective punishment against supporters.

“As a result of the ticket allocation reduction at the upcoming League Cup semi-final, the Green Brigade has received no ticket allocation.

“Although we wholeheartedly reject the notion of collective punishment, and have regularly defied similar suspensions in the past, we will not be attending this match.

“We believe that the Celtic support is at a watershed moment for unity and capacity to enact positive change at our club.

“We are committed to this goal and the development of the Celtic Fans Collective which is the best available apparatus for improving the experience of all Celtic fans.

“Collective punishment is an unfair practice. It has repeatedly been used against football supporters for a variety of reasons to force conformity and sow division.

“Irrespective of any perceived concerns, the best solutions will always be reached through meaningful supporter engagement and not through draconian sanctions. There is a persistent, common thread running through Scottish football of poor fan relations – with Celtic sitting top of the table.

“In a further demonstration of a detachment from fans, fairness and transparency, Celtic FC has sold an undisclosed amount of standard tickets as Hospitality Packages for this match. Priced between £150-£300 (excluding VAT), this legalised ticket touting exposes the Club’s desire to exploit supporter demand and sow unnecessary division between fans.

“Finally, we thank Bhoys Celtic, for another gesture of solidarity and rejection of unfair fan practices.”

Celtic fans will want transparency from the club over where the tickets for these games are going. Previously, the club would publish ticketing information, such as allocation and details of future ballots on the club website but in recent years this has disappeared.