SCOTLAND'S First Minister has said he would not take his teenage son to an Old Firm game, following clashes between fans last weekend.
A number of arrests have been made following the scenes between Rangers and Celtic fans at the game on Sunday, March 8, at Ibrox.
Supporters of both clubs stormed the pitch after the Scottish Cup quarter-final game, and stewards and police were attacked.
Speaking to press this week, John Swinney said the actions of the fans involved were “completely and utterly unacceptable”.
“The risk to other fans, to members of the stewarding staff, to police officers, to players, was just terrible,” he said.
Asked if he would take his teenage son Matthew to an Old Firm game, the First Minister said: “No.”
However, he stopped short of suggesting future Old Firm games should be played behind closed doors, without supporters in attendance.
Swinney added: “I would rather that’s not the case, but I think none of us can watch those scenes and think that there isn’t something that’s got to give as a consequence of what happened at the weekend.”
“I want to take time to engage… the clubs and the SFA, to identify what’s the best course of action to take.”
Clashes have flared in recent years when the two teams have faced each other, including in the 2024 League Cup final when police were forced to use special powers to lower the bar for searches to take place following reports of missiles being thrown at officers and the windows of a city centre pub being smashed.
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Swinney said the way to stop the violence between the two fanbases is for the clubs to engage with footballing authorities, police and the Government, adding he will be looking at the use of banning orders if he is re-elected as First Minister in May.
“The way through this, I think, is it’s got to involve, first of all, the people responsible being apprehended, and the police are pursuing that,” he said.
“I welcome what Police Scotland are doing.
“There’s also got to be engagement between the clubs, the Scottish Football Association and the Government about what further steps can be taken to avoid a recurrence of this behaviour, because it is just quite simply intolerable that we have that now.”
Rangers issued a club statement describing the disorder at Ibrox as “unacceptable” and said “we condemn it unequivocally”.
They also warned that anyone identified and convicted over the incidents could face sanctions including withdrawal of ticket privileges and stadium bans.
Celtic Football Club also said there were “examples of unacceptable behaviour” that must be addressed.
Swinney finished: “We’ve just concluded a consultation on football banning orders – we have football banning orders available already, we’ve got to review them periodically to see if they remain appropriate for the times.
“We’re analysing the outcome of that and there’s been a big response to that and we need to do that carefully, then in the next Parliament, we’ll have to look at these issues.”
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