Mick Dennis told the Sunday Supplement that Celtic should escape with a fine following the pitch invasion.
No need to deduct points, says Dennis - but Dida needs punishing too
Mick Dennis told the
Sunday Supplement that Celtic should escape with a fine following the midweek pitch invasion.
The Hoops are waiting to see what punishment UEFA impose after a fan ran on the pitch during the 2-1 Champions League win over Milan and laid his hands on goalkeeper Dida.
European football's governing body will meet on Monday to decide, but Dennis told the
Sunday Supplement that a financial punishment, rather than docking points, is what's required.
"They will punish Celtic to discourage everyone in Europe from doing it and the ultimate punishment would be some sort of points deduction," he said.
"But they won't go that far because Milan were outstanding in their response: immediately after the game they made it quite clear that they had no complaints about the result and that the incident hadn't affected the outcome and that they didn't want to take the matter further.
"I think the most that will happen is UEFA will say play the next game behind closed doors, but I think a fine is more likely. It might be dealt with or looked at differently, but we have to remember what happened - a fan came onto the pitch.
"Another element that needs adding is that Celtic fans have got such a good record. Famously they took 80,000 to Seville and they all behaved impeccably. That will count for something - and so it should."
Dennis and the
Supplement panel did not condone what the supporter did, but they had even less sympathy for Dida.
The Brazilian collapsed dramatically after the slightest of touches and was stretchered off holding an ice pack to his face.
Tickled
Team-mate Kaka has since come out and said his compatriot's actions were "wrong" and although all the attention is on Celtic and the supporter, some people believe the keeper was also at fault.
"This is one of those where we want a goody and a baddy in football," said Dennis.
"Everything has to be black and white and what I know is that in the immediate aftermath was that there were two points of view. One was that the fan was terrible and Celtic will have to be punished.
"The other one was that Dida, who had been tickled and needed an ice pack under his left ear and needed to be stretchered off, should be punished.
"The goalkeeper's behaviour was outlandish and UEFA may be able to deal with him. There isn't an offence for simulating an injury by a fan as far as I know, but as the game was still going on there might be some sort of retrospective punishment for unsporting behaviour.
"But don't let's forget a fan ran on the pitch and the pitch has to be inviolate. If you are an official or player and there's a fan running on, that's a scary moment because you don't know if he's going to tickle you or if he's carrying a weapon."
