THE vile anti-Irish and bigoted abuse that was hurled at Celtic players as they arrived at Ibrox Stadium (above) is now the subject of a Police Scotland investigation—although no arrests were made despite the close proximity of officers to the perpetrators.
Video footage emerged of the appalling abuse, which saw players subjected to taunts of ‘Fenians,’ ‘papes’ and ‘paedos’ in the foulest of language as they exited their team bus and entered Ibrox.
Despite Covid-19 restrictions demanding entry at a safe distance for players and the obvious risks of allowing opposition supporters such easy access to a visiting and rival side, Rangers supporters were able to come within yards of the Celtic squad and hurl abuse at them in full view of officers.
In the aftermath of the incident, Celtic made calls for serious action to follow the abuse with an official statement, but despite the strongly-worded outcry from the club little action appears to have been taken so far.
“The sectarian abuse suffered by our players and staff is completely unacceptable,” a Celtic spokesperson said. “We have raised this issue with Police Scotland and they have confirmed they are investigating the matter.
“Clearly we would hope that all efforts are made to identify those responsible and for all appropriate action to be taken.”
Police Scotland responded by confirming that an investigation is under way, but also acknowledged that no arrests have been made, which must surely be an embarrassing admission for police given how clearly such abuse was given in full view of the officers in attendance.
“We can confirm that an investigation is ongoing into abusive comments and singing around the time of the Celtic FC team coach arriving at Ibrox Stadium prior to the football match on Saturday, 2 January,” a Police Scotland spokesperson said. “This is an active enquiry and no arrests have been made at this stage.”
