SFA lets Hearts and Celtic off hook

ANGUS WRIGHT

HEARTS and Celtic have escaped punishment from the Scottish Football Association following the misbehaviour of their supporters at the weekend.

The Bank of Scotland Premierleague game between the two clubs at Tynecastle on Sunday was marred by incidents involving both sets of fans.

Early in the game, Celtic goalkeeper Rab Douglas was struck with a coin which came from the notorious section N of the main stand enclosure containing Hearts supporters. In the second half, television pictures showed two Celtic fans spitting in the direction of the Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon.

The SFA was awaiting referee Kenny Clark’s report of the game before deciding whether to take any action against Hearts following the coin incident. But the official opted not to mention the incident, including only the ten bookings that took place during the game - meaning the Tynecastle club escape any punishment from the SFA.

Drew Herbertson, head of disciplinary affairs at the SFA confirmed: "We have received the misconduct report and there was no mention of the coin-throwing incident. All that was mentioned in the report was the cautions incurred during the game so there will be no action by the SFA.

"Heart of Midlothian are keenly aware of the measures they need to take in terms of their supporters."

One Celtic supporter has already turned himself in to the club following the spitting incident and Herbertson insists the matter is between the Parkhead side and their fans.

He added: "That matter was not subject of a report here and clubs are responsible for their own supporters and will no doubt be keen to avoid things like this happening.

"I suspect this will be a matter between Celtic and the supporter - these days clubs do investigate incidents to some degree and will decide what action should be taken."

Celtic have already taken the decision to suspend the supporter’s season ticket indefinitely for home and away matches but the club was keen to stress the remorse of the fan after he admitted to the incident.

A Celtic spokesperson said: "While we utterly condemn the behaviour of this supporter, we appreciate the honesty he has shown in making contact with the club to apologise for his actions.

"He is thoroughly ashamed of his behaviour at the match and has requested the opportunity to apologise to Craig Gordon in person and to representatives of Heart of Midlothian Football Club.

"He has apologised to Celtic Football Club and would like to apologise to supporters for tarnishing their good reputation.

"Although Celtic representatives have met the supporter and believe his behaviour on this occasion was out of character, the club has now suspended his season ticket indefinitely for all home and away matches."

It emerged yesterday that the Celtic striker Henrik Larsson has threatened to retire from football at the end of the season because he is sick of the speculation surrounding his future.

The former Swedish international will end his seven-year association with the Parkhead side when his contract expires in the summer. He has been linked with several clubs in Spain and England but says the guessing game is getting him down.

Larsson told the Swedish paper Expressen: "I might quit football after this season and move home to Helsingborg. That’s as probable as me deciding to keep playing. This guessing game is just annoying.

"I will not get in contact with other teams, everything will go through my agent. We’re fairly agreed on what will happen when my contract with Celtic runs out."

Larsson, 32, has scored more than 200 goals in his seven seasons with Celtic and it would be a major surprise if he carried out his threat to quit.

Taken from the Scotsman