Celtic, Rangers and Motherwell face pyro punishment

Motherwell are one of three clubs set to be hammered by the Scottish FA for pyro displays that disrupted the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals.

In a statement issued today, the SPFL stated that “illegal pyrotechnics displays which were carried out by a small minority of supporters before the Celtic v Aberdeen and Motherwell v Rangers matches were totally unacceptable”,

That led to a 14-minute delay to Celtic v Aberdeen and five minutes to Motherwell v Rangers.

Rangers won their semi-final 2-1 against Motherwell, setting up a final against Celtic, who thumped Aberdeen 6-0.

Celtic, Motherwell and Rangers have all been issued with formal notices of complaint, and each club will face a disciplinary hearing.

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Preparations are ongoing ahead of the Premier Sports Cup final between Celtic and Rangers next weekend to avoid a repeat of the disruption.

The SPFL statement read: “The SPFL, Scottish FA, Police Scotland and other organisations have been clear that such use of pyrotechnics is illegal and poses clear dangers and health and safety risks to fellow supporters, players and those working at matches.

“There have been a number of complaints from supporters about these incidents and the SPFL and Scottish FFA have been in ongoing discussions with the clubs involved in the weeks since the semi-finals.”

The mum of a young football fan who almost lost his sight after he was hit by a flare at a Dundee FC match last year has said fines are not enough to stop the use of pyros.

Levi Rennie, 10, was left scarred for life after a lit explosive struck his face while he was at McDiarmid Park to watch his team in March this year.

Mum Sherrie Rennie told the Record: "Fines are not enough to stop fans bringing flares into football grounds. Fans think clubs can afford the fines and don't care about the effect it can have on their own club.

"Real football fans need to take responsibility and confront people around them so football games aren't shut down.

"It's difficult to catch perpetrators. Many innocent fans will lose out at matches because of the few."

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