Old Firm disorder report damning - how will authorities respond?

Old Firm disorder report damning - how will authorities respond?To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.This video can not be playedFigure caption, Police create cordon on pitch to separate Old Firm fansByTom EnglishBBC Scotland's chief sports writerPublished1 minute agoIt took four months to land but, when it did, the independent review of crowd disorder at the Old Firm Scottish Cup quarter-final at Ibrox in March arrived with a mighty thud.Across 37 pages everybody gets it in the neck - Rangers and Celtic, the Scottish FA and the SPFL, the police, the ultras from both sides. Both clubs face disciplinary charges, with the review warning that the ugly scenes "came within a very small margin of becoming a violent mass confrontation".The lead author, Mark Blackbourne - a sports event consultant with experience of Uefa match delegation and stadium inspection - is withering in his assessment of every conceivable facet of what went on that day and in the days before.His over-riding conclusion is that the time has come for the football authorities to stop playing around in the margins of sanctions against bad behaviour. Blackbourne is damning of both clubs. Fines from governing bodies are not cutting it, he says in wholly unambiguous terms.Celtic & Rangers cited after Ibrox cup tie unrestPublished4 hours ago'Shameful' pitch invasion by Celtic and Rangers fans condemned by policeAttributionNewsPublished9 March'Disgraceful scenes as toxicity spills over in Old Firm cup tie'Published8 March"Scottish football is dealing with an upward trajectory of recorded unacceptable conduct by fan groups and individuals," he writes. "The volume and variety of incidents across seasons 2024/25 and 2025/26 - pyrotechnics, objects thrown, pitch incursions, anti-social behaviour and targeted intimidation of players and officials - is not a statistical fluctuation. It is a trend."The disciplinary frameworks exis...