Compare the punishments: UEFA v SPL
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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