Rangers fans are set to be banned from Celtic Park for next month's Glasgow derby, after the Ibrox side refused to agree to certain conditions.
After the horrific scenes at their ground last time the two sides met, where Rangers ultras decided to counter Celtic's pitch invasion. They tried to charge the length of the field, attacking a Hoops staff member in the process, and they certainly didn't paint their club in a positive light.
Celtic didn't want the same disturbing scenes at Parkhead, so they rightly asked the Gers to ensure that if they were given away tickets, none would be given to the Union Bears. This is an understandable condition, yet Rangers decided to throw their toys out of the pram.
Now, our rivals have gone running to the SPFL, and they have confirmed that they will be determining whether Rangers will be given any tickets.
In a statement, a spokesperson said: "The SPFL Board will now appoint a sub-committee to consider Rangers’ request for a determination under SPFL Rule I27.”
Rule I27 states that the home club must make provision for the admission of a reasonable number of visiting supporters at every home league match. Considering we've had fans locked out for years and have only recently been reinstated, Celtic have ground to stand on.
Massive advantage for Celtic, and rightly so
This gives Celtic a massive advantage, and Rangers will be disappointed at that. We all know how much of an impact fans can have, but they brought this on themselves.
It should have been easy for the Gers to shut out the troublemakers, but they decided against that. It should be made clear that they said no to Celtic's conditions, not the other way around.
They've hit the Celts with unjustified bans in the past anyway. One notable example comes from the Scottish Women's Premier League match in 23/24, when Celtic Women won the league for the first time in their history.
During the title race, the Gers banned all away fans from attending the game as they claimed to have intelligence that suggested the Green Brigade were planning to attend the game. There was nothing Celtic could do, so they are getting a taste of their own medicine.
The board often get things wrong at Parkhead, but in this case, they are more than right. No one wants dangerous rival fans inside our stadium, so if Rangers won't agree to shut them out of the away end, then Celtic must do what is right.
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