Celtic and Rangers have held talks over a potential return of away fans to future Old Firm matches – but talkSPORT pundit Simon Jordan is calling for the SPFL to start dishing out sanctions to both clubs.
The two Glasgow giants have become embroiled in a bitter dispute over away ticket allocations, with the previous two derbies being played in front of home fans only after they failed to agree on a suitable number of travelling supporters.
Fan safety was cited as Celtic’s explanation for refusing to take up Rangers offer of just 750 tickets for the Ibrox showdown earlier this season and subsequently no tickets were offered to the Light Blues for the match at Parkhead on December 30.
Discussions have taking place this week in the hope of finding a resolution to the matter, with the next derby day at Ibrox on April 6. However, ex-Crystal Palace chairman Jordan reckons Scottish football’s governing body needs to do more to put an end to the issue.
Rangers initially cut the number of Celtic fans allowed to attend derbies at Ibrox from the traditional number of 8,000 back in 2018 and while it seems highly unlikely that will happen again in the near future, Jordan insists the SPFL must start to hand out punishments.
“Where are the SPFL in all of this? Why is this somehow Celtic and Rangers’ choice and gift? Who runs Scottish football?” he asked on talkSPORT. “I don’t think, in 50/60,000 stadiums, situated within miles of one another, that 750 fans… I don’t think 750, which is about one percent of the stadium, is representative of the support.
“This is another indication of how Scottish football doesn’t run itself the way it should do. Its leadership at the top should be saying to Celtic and Rangers ‘We’re not asking you, we’re telling you. And if you do not deal with this issue then we’re going to start looking at sanctioning you.’
“These are the biggest games in Scottish football. These are the games that demark what Scottish football represents. It’s appalling. It’s an appalling look, it’s appalling management, and it’s appalling that they’ve been able to behave like children for this period. It’s a terrible endorsement of what Scottish football should be.”
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