Celtic launch investigation into firecracker incident at St Mirren
Thursday 4 April 2019 17:10, UK
Celtic are carrying out a full investigation into the incident involving a pyrotechnic during their game at St Mirren on Wednesday and have promised to take the strongest possible action against anyone involved.
A firecracker was thrown from the away end after Ryan Christie scored Celtic's second goal and landed near St Mirren goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky.
Hladky was assessed by medics afterwards while the noise visibly shook some of Celtic's players, including Ryan Christie.
Celtic manager Neil Lennon condemned the incident and the Scottish champions have launched an investigation.
The club's chief executive Peter Lawwell said: "Wednesday night's incident was completely unacceptable and not something we ever want to see repeated.
"The safety of everyone in football - players, fans, staff, and officials - should always be our priority and, collectively, we need to do all we can to ensure this remains the case.
"There have been a number of incidents across many clubs this season, with a range of items, including pyrotechnics, being thrown on to pitches. We need to do all we can to remove this from our game.
"From a Celtic perspective, the club does not want it, our players do not want it, our manager does not want it and our supporters do not want it.
"There are serious safety concerns associated with such behaviour, and regardless of the obvious reputational damage which this kind of behaviour has on the club, there are numerous potential repercussions which could have hugely detrimental consequences for the club and our supporters.
"Our supporters are fantastic and we greatly value their contribution. It is the positive support of our fans this season which has helped us deliver one trophy this season and a 13-point lead in the Scottish Premiership.
"We achieved another excellent away win on Wednesday night and our on-field success should be the real talking point.
"This kind of behaviour, indeed any form of unacceptable conduct, only serves to tarnish the reputation of the club and our own fans.
"We need to all work together to make sure this stops now."
