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Won’t allow another potential flashpoint- former Celt explains why Derby can’t go ahead

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Rab Douglas can’t see the Scottish Government allowing the Glasgow Derby a week on Sunday to go ahead.

Sunday’s scenes of carnage in and around George Square seemed to catch the Police and Government by surprise with criticism coming in from across the country.

On Monday and Tuesday John Swinney and Nicola Sturgeon expressed their disgust at the scenes shown across Social Media as the importance of allowing football to continue during a pandemic was again questioned.

So far the SFA and SPFL haven’t come up with any proposals to counter law-breaking. If next Sunday’s match goes ahead it is likely to involve a massive Police bill with resources deployed in and around Glasgow throughout the day.

Allowing such a scenario to go ahead with no guarantees that there won’t be mass gathering is unlikely from a Government that has taken a very cautious approach over the last 12 months.

There seems to be only one obvious answer, in his column in The Courier, Douglas writes:

The scenes that followed, with Gers fans gathering in Glasgow to celebrate, were extremely disappointing. And that’s why I’d be very surprised if the Celtic v Rangers game scheduled for a week on Sunday goes ahead.

For me, the risk involved in letting the game take place, whether it’s fans gathering at Celtic Park or somewhere else in Glasgow, looks too great. The league is won. So why take that risk?

We’ve been battling away for a year as a country to keep the pandemic under control. We’re now getting to a stage, with vaccinations starting to reach more of the population, where it feels like there’s maybe a bit of light at the end of the tunnel.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Scottish Government look at the situation last weekend and decide they won’t allow another potential flashpoint match to take place – particularly now the result doesn’t count for anything other than pride.

Postponing next Sunday’s match would be a nightmare for the SPFL whose broadcasting deal with Sky Sports is centered around providing them with four Glasgow derbies per season.

Two of those matches are still to be played, there is the prospect of another meeting in the Scottish Cup and a Scottish Cup Final all scheduled before the end of May.

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