The SPFL have confirmed that it will not force Celtic to give an allocation to Rangers for the Glasgow derby should their safety conditions not be met. This comes after the Hoops demanded that the troublemakers from Ibrox not be given tickets. The Gers declined to agree to this and went to the league to sort things out.
In a statement released on Friday, the SPFL said: "On Friday 24 April, Rangers requested that the SPFL Board determine the away ticket allocation for the William Hill Premiership match between Celtic and Rangers at Celtic Park on Sunday 10 May.
"This followed discussions between the two clubs failing to reach agreement on the ticketing arrangements for the match. As both clubs have noted publicly, Celtic offered Rangers an allocation of tickets broadly amounting to 5% of the stadium, subject to an additional condition. Rangers rejected that condition and referred the matter to the SPFL Board.
"The Sub-Committee determined that, based on the evidence presented, it would not overrule a risk assessment carried out by the party legally responsible for the safety and security of the event, or interfere with the mitigation measures it considered to be necessary to comply with SPFL Rule H36. Having reached that conclusion, the Sub-Committee confirmed that 5% of the stadium was a reasonable allocation for this fixture."
An SPFL spokesperson added: "We note the decision of the independent Sub-Committee. We have been consulting with all clubs for months regarding the rules in this area and had achieved consensus that the current deadline of 14 days before a match for a referral to the SPFL Board is insufficient to allow a proper forensic analysis of the circumstances. Following discussion at the SPFL’s Rules & Regulations Working Group, we had intended to table a resolution at the June AGM to bring forward the deadline to 35 days prior to a fixture and will now take time to reflect on this decision."
Rangers now have the decision in their hands
Rangers now have to decide - lock out some of their fans, or shut out all of them. In one of the most important derbies for both clubs, with it potentially deciding which way the title goes, they will surely want some of their support in the ground. Hours ago, Danny Rohl revealed he was hoping for some supporters at Celtic Park, so he'll be pushing for it.
The SPFL made the right decision. Celtic have every right not to allow those who attacked a staff member and threw flares at supporters into Parkhead, and if Rangers don't agree, that is concerning. We don't want a repeat of the horrific scenes this time around, so we need to take extra measures to ensure that won't happen.
This is massive in the grand scale of things because it seems that future decisions will lean heavily towards the home team. As stated, they should be able to make decisions about safety, even if the other side doesn't like it.
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