Leigh Griffiths caught on video in racist chant

[ian1964 10,720]

THE Parkhead striker is at the centre of fresh controversy after new video footage emerges of the Edinburgh born player singing a racist song directed at former Hearts player Rudi Skacel.

 

CELTIC star Leigh Griffiths is at the centre of a fresh video storm today after he was filmed leading a pub in a *racist song about former Hearts hero Rudi Skacel.

 

Mobile phone footage passed to the Sunday Mail shows the Scotland striker standing up in the packed pub to start a massed chant branding the Czech player a “f****** refugee”.

 

Footage clearly shows Griffiths, 23, leading dozens of Hibs fans belting out the hateful song in the Roseburn Bar before the club’s *Edinburgh derby with Hearts last Sunday.

 

Wearing a grey top, he stands up with his hands in the air and kicks off the chant before jumping up and down when others join in.

 

Ex-Hibs player Griffiths has already been fined by Celtic and faces SFA *discplinary charges after he was filmed singing a song about Hearts’ *financial problems in the bar. The *incident led to Celts manager Neil *Lennon warning on Friday that the striker – who has been embroiled in a string of controversies – was on a final warning before being kicked out of the club.

 

But Parkhead bosses – who have vowed to take a hardline against bigotry – face a headache over the clip of their £800,000 star, who signed in January.

 

It will anger fans of the club, who were founded to help Irish *immigrants.

 

A pub onlooker said: “Leigh didn’t appear to have a care in the world.

 

“Even though there were a few people filming him on mobile phones, he just carried on jumping up and down and singing.

 

“He was enjoying himself – and the attention he was attracting.

 

“The pub was packed with Hibs fans who were who were loving the fact one of their former players was leading the sing-song.”

 

Griffiths was dropped to the subs bench for yesterday’s match against Dundee United.

 

But Celtic fans showed support by chanting, “Leigh Griffiths sings what he wants” before he came on in the *second half in the 2-0 win.

 

In 2005, former Hibs star Derek Riordan was fined by his club and forced to apologise to Skacel when he was filmed singing the same offensive song in a pub with other fans.

 

Sung to the tune of Beatles’ hit Yellow Submarine, it features the words: “Rudi Skacel is a f****** refugee.”

 

Like Griffiths, Riordan also went on to sign for Celtic.

 

In 2012, Dunfermline fan Andrew Irvine pleaded guilty to aggravated breach of the peace and was fined £200 when he sang the song during a match against Hearts at East End Park.

 

Last night, Anas Sarwar, deputy leader of the Scottish Labour Party and MP for Glasgow Central, called for police to investigate Griffiths’s behaviour.

 

And anti-racism charity Show Racism the Red Card urged Celtic to send *Griffiths to one of their workshops. Sarwar said: “Intolerance and *racism is not acceptable in society, the workplace or football.

 

“It doesn’t reflect the best of *Scotland, we celebrate our *differences and any racist actions from anyone should face the full weight of the law.”

Griffiths facing stronger charges from the SFA over latest incident

 

David Foster of Show Racism the Red Card added: “We want to *eradicate racism, bigotry and *sectariansim in all its forms and we believe the best way to do that is through education.

 

“Whatever action Celtic feel they have to take is an internal matter but we hope that Leigh Griffiths will attend one of our events.

 

“The racist words in this song aren’t acceptable and it may be the case that he isn’t fully aware of the damage they cause.

 

“He is a role model and *thousands of young fans look up to him.

 

“Some players wouldn’t choose that status but it comes with the terrority at a big club so it’s *important he’s aware of his *responsibilities.” Griffiths cheered on Hibs with his mates when his former team took on Hearts at *Tynecastle.

 

He was then filmed singing about Hearts going into adminstration in a pub after the match.

 

SFA bosses later charged Griffiths with a breach of Disciplinary Rule 86: “Not acting in the best interests of Association Football by singing in public about Heart of Midlothian FC in administration.”

 

His case is expected to be heard on April 24.

 

The images also forced Celtic to give him a written warning.

 

Lennon said: “We’ve all been guilty of doing daft things at times but that’s his one strike.

 

“I don’t want him doing any more – otherwise his career at Celtic won’t be as long as he maybe wants it to be.”

 

This isn’t the first time Griffiths has been at the centre of a *racism row. Last year, he was arrested and charged over an alleged racist *comment he made on Twitter.

 

Skacel, who’s without a club and considering retiring, was *unavailable for comment.

 

Last night, a Celtic soure said: “The club will take this very *seriously.

 

“They’ve shown outbursts like this won’t be tolerated by players by how swiftly they dealt with the last footage that emerged.”

 

A club spokesman said: “It would be inappropriate to comment until we’ve investigated the *allegation.”

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/exclusive-celtic-star-leigh-griffiths-3380576

[Doc 280]

Call me an old cynic, but I expect nothing to come out of this.

[ian1964 10,720]

Scottish FA adds to charge against Celtic's Leigh Griffiths

 

The Scottish FA has changed its charge against Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths to include a more serious offence.

 

The charge now includes "singing in public a song of an offensive, racist and/or discriminatory nature".

 

It follows reports of the Scotland international joining Hibernian fans in a song calling former Hearts player Rudi Skacel "a refugee".

 

Last week, Griffiths was charged with "singing in public about Hearts in administration".

 

Griffiths attended the recent Edinburgh derby at Tynecastle, watching the match with Hibs supporters.

 

And his pre-match singing in a pub made newspaper headlines after it was filmed and posted on a video-sharing website.

 

The SFA cited rule 86, which relates to "not acting in the best interests of Association Football".

 

Disciplinary rule 79, "bringing the game into disrepute" has now been added to the charge.

 

A principal hearing date of 24 April has been set for the case.

 

A Police Scotland spokeswoman told BBC Scotland it would also be launching an investigation into the claims of racism, while Celtic are believed to have launched their own probe.

 

Griffiths has already been disciplined internally by Celtic, but the Scottish champions have not yet commented about the latest footage.

 

The player has apologised to Hearts and Celtic manager Neil Lennon has warned him about his future conduct.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26961516