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Compare the punishments: UEFA v SPL

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Neil Lennon newsI genuinely feel that there is a need for us as supporters to know a bit more about how the SFA or SPL or whoever punishes clubs for “offences” comes to the decisions that they make.

Such as what is regarded as an offence in the first place? What sort of punishments/fines there should be for specific offences? And more importantly, why is there such a difference between what Scottish footballing authorities and UEFA will punish clubs for.

An incident that come to mind is the fact that Celtic were fined £25,000, and quite rightly so in my opinion, when a fan ran on to the pitch and slapped/brushed against the Milan keeper Dida. The fan in question was given 120 hours community service and UEFA handed Dida a two match ban for his over-reaction.

Last season, a Hearts fan ran on to the pitch and attempted to attack Neil Lennon. I think it’s a point that very few would argue but of the two incidents, the Hearts one was much worse than the Celtic incident.

Today it’s been confirmed that Hearts will escape punishment.

Some will argue that Heart of Midlothian Football Club cannot and should not be held responsible for the actions of one person, which I think is a valid enough point, however, if Celtic are to be held responsible for the actions of one fan then why can’t Hearts be held responsible for the actions of their fan?

Also, if the behaviour of fans inside a stadium is not the responsibility of the individual club, who is to be held responsible? Is the police or the stewards? If so, the club employ them on match days so it turns back to the club in question.

Moving back to the incidents at Parkhead and Tynecastle, they have been reviewed by UEFA and by the Scottish football authorities.

This is not the first time that both governing bodies have held varying opinions, so who is correct and who is wrong?

One of them must be wrong and I know who I agree with on this occasion- UEFA.

If a fan at Parkhead knows that the club will risk a fine and that they will risk community service or worse for going on to the pitch and making physical contact with an opposition player, they are less likely to do it.

However, if a Hearts fan or a fan of any other team for that matter wants to assault an opposition player/coach/manager etc. and nothing happens to the club that they support then I think they are more likely to do it again.

As of yet, I do not know what punishment has been handed out to the Hearts fan by the courts or indeed if any punishment will happen.

This, thankfully, was an unusual incident in top flight Scottish football and I think if the Scottish footballing authorities had punished Hearts, they would have sent a clear message that this will not be tolerated.

Instead, it’s as if they have just turned away from it sending out the message that we don’t really care- do what you want.

Recently, we had the head of the SFA, Stewart Regan saying that some changes will be implemented so hopefully, that will make a difference, but I just struggle to see how Hearts cannot be punished for an incident, which (in principal at least), is similar to one that UEFA punished Celtic for.

I could highlight a lot of incidents where I, probably through my green tinted eyes, deem that Celtic have been given a worse punishment for something that another club has also done.

I do not want to go down that road as I feel it leaves it wide open to turn into a childish debate where people can start to say what about this time . . . . What about that time . . . or give examples of other perceived injustices.

After the so called ‘shame game’ – the cup replay v Rangers at Parkhead a summit was called and not very much seems to have happened.

In the interest of equality and also as an attempt to eradicate our so called paranoia, I would love the footballing powers that be in this country to produce a more transparent way of dealing with things.

Yes, with any sort of ‘crime and punishment’ scenario, there will be grey areas but surely if Scottish football took similar action to that of UEFA for similar incidents, it would make life much easier for everyone and allow us to start to concentrate more on the football.

Like most fans, I am really looking forward to the new season and I sincerely hope that this one is just about football.

Have I missed something there and is it right that Hearts escape punishment? I don’t think so but please let me know as you do. I always like to hear differing opinions.

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  • STEVIEC says:

    Sky Sports News reporting no further action will be taken against Hearts or Celtic over this incident. What crime did Celtic commit o silly me of course we employed a catholic from Northern Ireland. Paranoia indeed.

  • margaretblack says:

    I agree with your thoughts 100%. UEFA should do something about this as they did with Celtic, what’s good for one is good for the other.

    It doesnt seem right that we should be punished and they appear to have got away with it.

  • bhoylondon67 says:

    I completely agree that it’s difficult to blame a club for the actions of a single muppet, however in looking at all the factors surrounding the game I think Hearts clearly didn’t do enough, Lennon was the target of attempted murder and was clearly at severe risk, he was supposed to be under strict protection, add to that the fact Hearts themselves had raised concerns about this specific fixture then it’s blatantly obvious they didn’t implement enough security.

    As for Celtic escaped punishment!!? FFS that comment can be put down as typical Scottish FA or Scottish media desperation to drag us into someone elses problems. Pathetic.

  • mick f says:

    if it is not a clubs responsibility when it comes to fans then how can spl/sfa, scottish government and police demand clubs stop their fans singing certain songs? uefa expect clubs to handle their fans & so should the spl/sfa. uefa are right and hearts should have been hammered not let off scot free

  • THendry88 says:

    Same old story…Welcome to the NEW SFA same as the OLD SFA. It is no differnet than the Shame getting away with manhandling the ref. If it was any other team those players would have recieved multi game suspensions, but for them it is “just a bit of banter”. What these muppets don’t seem to realize is each and every decision they make sets a precedent, and a bloody scary one at that!

  • Ciaran says:

    Think back to the world-wide headlines.Think of Mjallby’s solemn face and words after the game. Even baw heid Jefferies looked shaken.

    Hearts came out with the expected weak as water statement exempting themselves of blame. They were shitting themselves.

    I thought they would get 1 game behind closed doors. Maybe a sizeable fine. Something!!!

    This is a joke. Gentlemen, we are fighting on all fronts again this coming season.

  • USMCBhoy says:

    The SFA is surrounded in mystery. I believe it is a matter of how this decision was made, what process was used, whom/who made the decision, and what criteria was used in establishing the punishment / lack of.

    The SFA should use a standard set of rules/laws that are published. These laws should be clear and just for all to see. The principles should include accountability, culpability, equality, and uniformity. The new revisions/reformation/revolution within the SFA should invoke a sense of clarity about how they reach decisions, publish a set of violations and prescribe punishments for each.

    Example of published rules/laws/violations/punishments:
    Standard Code of Conduct for Clubs
    Standard Code of behavior expected at stadiums away/home for fans: 1. breach of stewards by fan; 2. Fan Attacks Managements Team/Players/Anyone; Punishment: competency review of security, fine if club failed to abide by standard security measures.
    Etc.

    The fact remains, the SFA is a relic, past its time and in need of revitalization. Week in, week out, teams/managers, players, and fans complain about ref’s decisions and the action by SFA is not uniform or equal. There is one man that should be brought in to help Celtic in its cause for equality and that is Paul Mcbride. He is a proven resource and used to accuse the SFA of discrimination, bias, and any number of unfair practices.

    We would not be able to say this (paranoia) if there was a legitimate system that provided clarity about how the decision making process works and that it is based on a standard set of practices. They cannot do it. BRING IN MCBRIDE!

  • Joe McHugh says:

    Small point but this is an SPL punishment not SFA.

    It shows up the shortcomings of the SPL, the SFA really should be looking at the SPL procedures and getting them to start again, despite being less than 15 years old.

    Just because Hearts followed the guidelines doesn’t make them immune from punishment- clearly security was totally lacking when someone can travel a fair distance, maybe 20-30 yards, unchallenged to attack Neil Lennon.

  • Stoobhoy says:

    All this shows is that the governing bodies have changed nothing from last season. Once again the first opportunity to tarnish Celtic in the same statement as another team was taken as standard.

    Next season, by the looks of things we will be up against the incompetence and plain ignorance of the SFA. By standing up to them all we have done is focus them more.

    This isn’t the end, this is just the begining to quote Lenny

  • GWG says:

    Who is the new President of the SFA~~~~~
    QUESTIONS ANSWERED !!!

  • Brian says:

    Its hard to believe reading the BBC Report, a Hearts Fan attacks the Celtic Manager because his team had the temerity to be winning. Who do Hearts decide to punish, yep the Celtic Fans by giving them 400 less tickets the next time round.

    Where I do differ with views on here from those saying UEFA should do this and look at what UEFA done to us is this, Neil Doncaster said a few weeks back when asked about punishing Clubs for sectarian singing, stated that UEFA don’t take into account what the Clubs have done to combat the issue. If a crime is committed UEFA will punish, ND stated that if the SPL are satisfied that the Club has done all it can then they accept that. Now as much as I disagree with that, it seems that they are consistently applying that ethos.

    Bet they don’t when the day comes Celtic are in the dock.

  • jocky bhoy says:

    The fact the guy is being prosecuted under the law for an assault is immaterial – HEARTS FAILED IN THEIR DUTY TO PROVIDE A SAFE WORKING ENVIRONMENT FOR BOTH TEAMS PLAYERS AND STAFF.

    This is especially true in light of the death threats, live bullets and viable bombs sent to Lennon & other Celtic staff last season.

    It’s also worrying that the SPL Chief Exec seems to think we brought it on ourselves – why else mention what a difficult season it was? Oh is that because Timmy asked for a level playing field.

    The war continues – maybe the theatre has changed from SFA to SPL but you can be sure we are still not getting treated as “less than” anyone else.

  • Only in Scotland could this happen still the same bunch of bigots nothing changes spl what a bunch of little men

    • bhoylondon67 says:

      Nothing will change, we already have the SFA saying UEFA were wrong to charge and punish Rangers over their relentless bigoted and racist singing, what the SFA are amazingly ignoring is that after UEFA punished Rangers things got considerably BETTER in terms of the sickening chants from their support, its clearly working!

      They will probably need a few more european bans to make it really sink in but ITS WORKING! So why on Earth are the SFA condoning Rangers FC and the SFA’s weak pathetic attempts to deal with it when they blatantly did not help eradicate the problem? In fact the Rangers fans were getting considerably worse over the last few years.

      The SFA are weak feeble minded bigot and racists apologists, they will never change, UEFA’s punishment made a big difference, the SFA have now just undone that, all Rangers fans need to do is not sing their filth at european games and domestically can do as they please as usual.

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