Old Firm: Rangers and Celtic both ordered to play next Scottish Cup home game behind closed doors after crowd trouble

Celtic and Rangers will play their next home ties in the Scottish Cup behind closed doors.

The Scottish FA has issued the punishment following the crowd trouble which marred last season's quarter-final at Ibrox.

The two Glasgow teams will also have to pay the visiting side for their next home Scottish Cup fixture £100,000.

• Got Sky? Watch Scottish Premiership games on your phone
• Not got Sky? Stream Scottish Premiership games flexibly on your phone

A second match stadium closure will be triggered if there is any trouble at a Scottish Cup fixture until the end of the 2027/28 season.

It follows their Scottish Cup match at Ibrox in March when fans clashed on the pitch after a penalty shoot-out win for Celtic.

A statement from the SFA read: "By unanimous decision, the Tribunal imposes the following sanctions under Rule 37:

"- In terms of Sanction (g), Orders that the Club's next home Scottish Cup match be played behind closed doors;

"- In terms of Sanction (j), Orders that the Club make a compensatory payment of £100,000 to the away side drawn in respect of said next home Scottish Cup match, payment to be made within 30 days of completion of the
match;

"- In terms of Sanction (g), Orders on a suspended basis (active until the period ending at the conclusion of season 2027/28) that a further home Scottish Cup match for the Club be played behind closed doors, applicable only in the event of a further failure by the Club to ensure that its supporters do not engage in unacceptable conduct in respect of any Scottish Cup fixture during said period; and

"- In terms of Sanction (j), Orders on the same suspended basis (active until the period ending at the conclusion of season 2027/28) that the Club make a compensatory payment of £100,000 to the away side drawn in respect of said further home Scottish Cup match, payment to be made within 30 days of completion of the match, applicable only in the event of a further failure by the Club to ensure that its supporters do not engage in unacceptable conduct in respect of any Scottish Cup fixture during said period."

What happened at Ibrox?

This was the first Old Firm game at Ibrox since 2018 where Celtic were given the full Broomloan Stand, meaning there were around 7,500 away fans at the game. That figure was agreed to comply with Scottish Cup rules on ticket allocations.

The league match between Rangers and Celtic the previous weekend had around 2,500 away fans after an agreement between clubs to give around five per cent of stadium capacity to away teams for this fixture.

That followed seasons of reduced allocations, or at times no away fans at games.

Celtic progressed to the semi-finals with a 4-2 shoot-out victory over Rangers after the goalless draw at Ibrox, which sparked a pitch invasion from both sets of supporters.

Some visiting fans spilled onto the playing surface to celebrate after the winning spot-kick and supporters from the Rangers end charged towards them with fireworks thrown back and forth.

A total of 43 arrests have now been made in connection.

Identical punishments

Sky Sports' Gordon Duncan:

"There were wide-ranging accusations about all sorts of misdemeanours. Crowd trouble before, during and after the game. Fans without tickets forcing their way in. Graffiti and damage to the stadium. The list goes on and on.

"Now the punishments have been handed out.

"Last month, there was an independent enquiry about what went on and the ugly scenes and as part of that one of the recommendations was that the Scottish FA were encouraged to look at more immediate and severe punishments. It's safe to say, that's exactly what has happened.

"Scottish football often exists in a blame game about who did what and all the mitigating factors, but both have been handed the same punishment."

Play Super 6 to win £1m!

Play Super 6 for a chance to win £1m! Enter for free.