Zappa 0 Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 (edited) A massive opportunity has arisen for the Scottish Government and the Scottish media to help UEFA stamp down heavily on what is now undoubtedly the most offensive behaviour in any Scottish football stadium; the singing, chanting and glorification of the IRA by fans of Celtic Football Club. As we all know, the new SNP Government led by First Minister Alex Salmond is adamant that it will be passing it's much debated new legislation to tackle "Offensive and threatening behaviour" at football. The new laws are primarily setting out to target football related sectarianism in Scotland, but if the Bill is passed despite being extremely unpopular with opposition politicians and the majority of Scottish football fans, it will also target various other forms of "offensive" and "threatening" behaviour. This new Bill hasn't been passed yet though and Alex Salmond is under considerable pressure over it due to the amount of opposition to specifically targetting football fans over a problem that's widespread in Scottish society. Apparently sectarianism and bigotry is all the fault of football fans and under the new laws fans could be sentenced to up to 5 years in prison. Nearly as much as a bank robber for saying some naughty things at a football match. When questioned on the necessity of new legislation, Salmond has said that the actions taken against Rangers by UEFA are an example of why something needs to be done. We know what action UEFA have taken against Rangers over the years. The club has now been fined by UEFA on several occassions for discrimitory chanting and singing and the last case against the club was only earlier this year based on some singing in a match against PSV Eindhoven in Holland. Well there may actually be some justice and equality in this world after all because finally it looks as though something might get done about the disgusting and incredibly offensive behaviour of Celtic fans. They've been banging out songs and chants which glorify the IRA for decades and never once brought to task for it. Celtic Football Club admit the problem and know who the offenders are because they're season ticket holders and have been given their own special section at Parkhead. There's mountains of evidence against them including plenty of video evidence, but Celtic have failed to punish their own fans or try to put a stop to it despite claims from Peter Lawwell that the club was taking a hard line on this type of behaviour. Maybe UEFA can do something about it. Maybe Alex Salmond and the Scottish media can help UEFA do something about it. Maybe they can explain to UEFA that something needs to be done about this behaviour because glorifying a terrorist organisation like the IRA (or any of it's off-shoots) at a football match is totally unacceptable. This is a big opportunity for Alex Salmond because if UEFA hammer Celtic for this it will give the SNP's new legislation some extra clout. He can stand up and commend UEFA for taking action against such abhorent behaviour by football fans and say "We're doing something about it in Scotland too". If you want to legislate on offensive behaviour at football, then the glorification of the IRA by Celtic fans must be stamped out forever and action by UEFA could be the perfect catalyst. http://www.gersnet.co.uk/ Edited November 13, 2011 by Zappa 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebear54 0 Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 Good post Zappa. Thanks. You note that Alex Salmond has said that the actions taken against Rangers by UEFA are an example of why something needs to be done. I would hope that the coming week will raise the profile of UEFA investigating Celtic, and perhaps the powers that be will be reminded that something needs to be done specifically about the offensive behaviour of Celtic fans too. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted November 13, 2011 Author Share Posted November 13, 2011 Cheers bluebear. It's getting a LOT of hits because newsnow and twitter is busy on a Sunday. At the very least my dry sense of humour will have got some tims foaming at the mouth on this fine Sunday evening. :devil: 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,908 Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Some (unpublished) comments for you to sift through on the main site panel mate. Not all, erm, complimentary shall we say! Great stuff! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 4,165 Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Unless I am mistaken, this UEFA inquiry was actually initiated by Strathclyde Police? If that is the case, IMHO Glasgow's Finest had enough of the indecision presented by the Scottish government, SPL, SFA and whatnot. While the police could work with the UEFA decision about TBB and FTP, nothing of like "quality" can be said about what echoes round the Timdome. By getting UEFA into it, the police will hope for a definite answer, so they can actually point out which song or context is not allowed at footie grounds any longer - at least with regards to religion, politics and sectarianism. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dutchy Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 What I'd heard, via the radio, was that the match commander mentioned it to the UEFA official. Apparently he was surprised the guy included it in his report. Sounds more like he's trying to cover his own arse on this. Remember, it was the police that demanded action on football fans initially, as part of their finacial bleatings. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GovanAllan 0 Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Wait for the big bad Rangers stories going into overdrive by the Scottish media. Oh wait it's started in The Gerald, Tim is now a sectarian term NBM also weighing in. If any on here have the slightest doubt that the media only have one group of people in the crosshairs this weekend must put paid to it once and for all. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aweebluesoandso 290 Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Great post Zappa, we need some joined up thinking on this. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted November 14, 2011 Author Share Posted November 14, 2011 Some (unpublished) comments for you to sift through on the main site panel mate. Not all, erm, complimentary shall we say! Thanks, I just had a look mate. Mostly Celtic fans foaming at the mouth as predicted. I published all the comments. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted November 14, 2011 Author Share Posted November 14, 2011 What I'd heard, via the radio, was that the match commander mentioned it to the UEFA official. Apparently he was surprised the guy included it in his report. I'd be interested to know whether it was the UEFA official who approached the match commander and asked him how things had gone or if the match commander approached the UEFA official. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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