Five Questions for Chief Constable Jo Farrell after trouble at Ibrox

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The Celtic Star

·12 de março de 2026

Five Questions for Chief Constable Jo Farrell after trouble at Ibrox

A senior Scottish police official has rebuked Celtic and the Ibrox club for not publicly denouncing the conduct of their supporters following the disturbances at the weekend.

Meanwhile we have five questions for Chief Constable Jo Farrell….

Chief Constable Jo Farrell urged both clubs to take stronger action, including measures to remove their respective ultra supporter groups.

Farrell is the latest figure to speak out after chaotic scenes unfolded following the Scottish Cup quarter-final clash. The encounter ended in a 0-0 draw before the Hoops secured a sweet victory through a penalty shootout.

Vídeos OneFootball

Post-match, supporters from both sides entered the pitch. Police are also investigating an incident involving a member of Celtic’s backroom staff who appeared to be assaulted by a Rangers supporter. Separate incidents of disorder were reported in areas surrounding the stadium.

Police Scotland confirmed that nine individuals have been arrested so far and warned that additional arrests are expected as investigations continue.

The chief constable discussed the situation while appearing before the Scottish Parliament’s Public Audit Committee, where the events at Ibrox were raised during proceedings.

She said: “The events of Sunday afternoon were absolutely disgraceful and I condemn the people involved in violence. Fans, families, friends, people working at the clubs, my officers, do not go to and work within that environment to witness or receive or be on the receiving end of threats and violence.”

Union Bears with flares.Scottish Cup quarter final on Sunday 8 March 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou

Referring to the intense media discussion that has followed the incident, Farrell also pointed out that neither club has issued a public statement addressing the matter.

“When we got to Monday evening, there was still no commentary from either of those clubs in respect of the violence that was witnessed,” she said. “Nobody came out to condemn that violence.”

Farrell was later asked on whether the clubs should consider restricting ticket allocations to ultra supporter groups as a potential step towards preventing similar incidents in the future.

Scotland’s Shame – theRangers fans attacking the Celtic support at Ibrox after Celtic won the Scottish Cup quarter final on Sunday 8 March 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou

She said: “That would seem like an obvious action that needs to be considered and taken by the clubs.”

“How do they ensure the safety of their broader fan base and eliminate those individuals who come in and have prepared the balaclavas and the pyrotechnics in order with the intent of causing disruption, harm to those other people around them.”

Scotland’s Shame – theRangers fans attacking the Celtic support at Ibrox after Celtic won the Scottish Cup quarter final on Sunday 8 March 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou

Police Scotland have plenty of questions to answer themselves after the events on Sunday. Here are a few but there will be many more.

Why did Police Scotland use the same entry procedures for the Celtic support from the previous week when the allocation was much smaller at 1800 when they could have used the tried and tested procedures that were successfully implements at Ibrox for Rangers v Celtic games for decades where the Celtic support had the full Broomloan Road stand?
Why did Police officers instruct some Celtic buses to park on Helen Street causing serious risks which could have resulted in a fatality?
Why was there not a pile cordon in place in front of the Broomloan Road and Copeland Road (which houses the Rangers ultra group the Union Bears) stands at the end of the match?
Did Police Scotland discuss these matters with Rangers in advance and has there been an element of cost cutting on behalf of the Ibrox club to reduce the cost of policing inside the stadium.
Does Police Scotland accept that they failed to learn the lessons from the Janefield Street crush and that their procedures on Sunday were in danger of leading to a similar dangerous situation re-occurring?

I feared for my safety, pre-match, due to the incompetence and foolishness of @PoliceScotland @PSOSGreaterGlas Myself and those with me were not involved in anything untoward in or around the stadium but were subject to dangerous conditions placed on us by your establishment
– quarta-feira, 11 de março de 2026

Sounds to me that the Police are passing the blame on to the home club for their own shortcomings regarding policing the match by highlighting the cost to police the match that they would ultimately have to pay.
– quarta-feira, 11 de março de 2026