Doncaster breaks his silence on Ibrox shame game but no apology or sympathy offered

Neil Doncaster has broken his silence over the incidents at Ibrox on Sunday to provide The Times with a bland deflection statement that makes no reference to the specifics of the game at Ibrox. 

In front of the biggest television audience of the season viewers had to wait five minutes for the second half to start as glass was cleared from Joe Hart’s goal-mouth. It seemed that none of the stewards or groundstaff noticed the glass with Celtic keeper having to inform the match referee. 

When Jota took a second half corner a bottle/object was thrown at him with a similar incident after the final whistle as the Celtic players acknowledged 700 visiting fans. 

Worse of all and outwith range of the Sky Sports cameras a member of Celtic’s medical team required stitched to a head wound after being hit with a glass bottle at half time. 

No apology has been offered by the home club to those affected with Doncaster not offering any sympathy to the physio who returned home from work with stitches in his head. 

The SPFL CEO told The Times: 

Strict liability simply does not work, as the repeated fines for specific clubs in Uefa competitions season after season demonstrate very clearly. 

The answer must be far harsher and targeted punishments for the individuals who perpetrate the crime, including a more regular use of football banning orders and, where necessary, custodial sentences. 

There are two main forms of strict liability which have been proposed and neither of them will work. 

The first is to punish the home club for any transgressions in their ground, whether it’s by the away fans or home fans. 

Unfortunately, this will act as an incentive for some away fans to misbehave, knowing the home clubs will suffer the punishment for their actions. 

It will inevitably result in clubs refusing to sell tickets to away fans, with the obvious detrimental impact on our game. 

The second is to make clubs strictly liable for the behaviour of their fans at away matches and this will simply lead to clubs refusing to sell their fans tickets for other grounds, for fear of being punished if they misbehave. 

The significant investment by clubs in CCTV technology means it’s far easier to spot and act on incidents caused by the tiny minority of fans who misbehave. 

Clubs, footballing authorities and the overwhelming majority of decent fans abhor the actions of those who engage in criminal acts at games. 

It’s only by targeting these individuals directly and punishing them to the full extent of the law that we will provide a meaningful and effective deterrent. 

Celtic haven’t made any official statement about Sunday’s incidents, the two clubs are expected to meet again at Celtic Park later this month.