FOOTBALL ultras act like “organised crime groups”, according to a major review into the disorder at last season’s Scottish Cup quarter-final between Rangers and Celtic at Ibrox.
The damning independent report hit out at a lack of planning by police and footballing officials after the match descended into chaos with Old Firm fans invading the pitch and fighting.
It was a “minor miracle” that none suffered “more serious injury” after the disorder on March 8 at the Rangers stadium earlier this year, the report’s author Mark Blackbourne said.
The report described the events of the day as a “near miss on two distinct fronts”.
These were the possibility of “life-threatening violence” in four minutes and 28 seconds it took for police to re-establish control on the pitch after “masked home [Rangers] fans armed with poles and reinforced gloves came within a very small margin of a violent mass confrontation” and where fans “surging past police and stewards created real and foreseeable crushing risk” as they forced their way into Ibrox.
The report said the blame lay “squarely with those groups and individuals – almost exclusively male – who behaved in a disorderly and threatening manner with complete disregard for the safety of the majority of fans”.
Interviewees who spoke with the reviewers described ultras groups – such as the Union Bears and the Green Brigade – in terms “more commonly associated with organised crime groups”, the review noted, adding: “These groups exhibit internal hierarchy, coordinated planning, operational security awareness, and the use of intimidation in securing ‘best position’.”
In its overview of the day’s events, the review described how “access gates were forced open; stewards and football staff were assaulted, two hospitalised; pyrotechnics were ignited; antagonistic songs were chanted; seats and LED boards were damaged; graffiti was daubed on internal walls; and missiles were thrown at players, officials and supporters”.
It added: “It was a minor miracle that no-one suffered more serious injury.”
Ultras groups bore the greatest responsibility for the disorder, the review said.
“It must be emphasised that the initial actions of the disorderly ultra groups (whose conduct set the tone) were a significant contributory factor in the match end descending into the chaotic and embarrassing scenes that unfolded,” the report said.
“These actions were the catalyst. The disorder that followed was the consequence.”
And ultras groups were also described as being “forensically aware” of how to attempt to get away with causing disorder.
The report said: “Members of certain ultra groups are acutely aware of evidential thresholds and investigative processes. The widespread use of face coverings – balaclavas, masks and hoods – on March 8 was not accidental. It represents a deliberate, coordinated attempt to defeat identification and avoid accountability.”
But the police, footballing authorities and the clubs themselves also came in for criticism.
Police Scotland was pulled up for its failure to have live video footage in its remote command centre, away from the stadium, of what was going on inside Ibrox during the match.
The report said: “Gold Command was therefore managing a major public-order incident without real-time visual situational awareness of the ground.”
Arguing in the recommendations that the police must have access to either a live CCTV feed from the stadium control room or a live television feed, the report added: “These are not enhancements - they are basic operational requirements for effective command at distance.”
Elsewhere, it was recommended that the clubs must take greater responsibility for trying to curtail the danger posed by the minority of fans, saying: “The current sanctions framework holds individuals accountable but largely insulates clubs from the consequences of their supporters’ behaviour.
“Several interviewees noted that this produces a perverse incentive structure: clubs face limited organisational risk from the disorder associated with their Ultra groups and therefore have insufficient motivation to confront or curtail them.
“Collective responsibility – where clubs bear measurable consequences for the actions of their supporters – is the mechanism that realigns those incentives. It is not a punishment for the innocent majority; it is a pressure on club leadership to exercise the authority they have but have been reluctant to use.”
And the Scottish FA and Scottish Professional Football league were both found to have been reluctant to use the powers they have to sanction clubs for failing to tackle disorder.
The report said: “Across interviewees, there was a consistent and strongly expressed view that the Scottish FA and Scottish Professional Football League have the disciplinary powers to act more severely than they have done but have chosen not to use them.
“The existing rulebook – which every club signs up to – provides for financial penalties, points deductions, and expulsion.”
In a statement, Rangers said it “unreservedly condemns” the actions of those involved in the “unacceptable” scenes of disorder.
The club added: “We recognise the distress caused to supporters, staff and others affected and the professionalism of the police officers and stewards as they restored order on the day.
“Rangers engaged fully with the independent review and accepts responsibility for the areas within the club’s control. We will implement the lessons learned and recommendations required to strengthen our arrangements. We expect the same accountability from others involved.”
The club said its concerns about increasing the number of away tickets for Celtic fans were ignored but its safety plan was “materially enhanced to reflect the allocation and subsequent risks identified”.
Rangers said that it will put in new measures after its plan was “severely tested” by the day’s events, including a new supporter conduct and sanctions policy.
Assistant Chief Constable Alan Waddell said: “The Chief Constable has been clear there is a lot of work to be done by stakeholders across Scotland, and we will continue to engage with the clubs and football authorities on the recommendations contained in the report."
The National has approached Celtic and the footballing authorities mentioned for comment.
