CELTIC Football Club has issued a statement asking fans from Ireland who have been subjected to abuse by Strathclyde police to report it to the club.
Hundreds of fans from Donegal regularly travel to matches at Parkhead; most recently on Saturday for the Hoops 4-3 comeback win over Aberdeen.
The statement follows another incident where police were accused of bias against Celtic fans before Saturday’s match.
Lawyers representing the Celtic supporters group the Green Brigade have expressed their concern over the policing of a protest by them. The Brigade is an anti-racist and anti-facsist group.
Thirteen fans were arrested by Strathclyde Police during a street procession before the game.
Images and videos of the incident captured and shared on social media depicted a high number of police kettling supporters affiliated with the ‘ultras’ group, which the Parkhead club was “very concerned to see”.
The Green Brigade had previously stated the protest was in response to “harassment” of its members by Strathclyde Police and bans imposed on its fans by Celtic management and the procurator fiscal.
On Monday, Strathclyde Police confirmed five of the supporters arrested were released and will be reported to the procurator fiscal over the incident.
The remaining eight were also released on an undertaking to appear at Glasgow Sheriff Court at a later date.
Celtic FC released a statement which said: “The safety and well-being of Celtic supporters is of paramount importance to the club. The club is very concerned to see imagery of Saturday’s march by members of the Green Brigade from Gallowgate to Celtic Park, and subsequent claims by supporters of police harassment and heavy-handed policing.
“This is an issue which the Club takes very seriously … We should remind supporters that the club has set up a working group, which is independently chaired, to establish a Complaints Review Panel to oversee the complaints’ process and improve transparency.
“Any suggestion of collusion between the club and Strathclyde Police is, quite frankly, ludicrous. The Celtic support has a long and well-established reputation for good behaviour and everyone is very proud of that and keen to ensure that it continues.
“In the meantime we will be writing to the Chief Constable to ask for a full report on Saturday’s events.”
Gildeas Solicitors, which acts for the Green Brigade, said that it had received enquiries from people wishing to complain over the police activity in Glasgow’s Gallowgate.
A spokesman for Gildeas Solicitors said on Monday: “Gildeas continue to represent football fans from all clubs including Rangers and Celtic. Any right minded person no matter which team they follow will be rightly concerned about the events that occurred on Saturday, March 16, in Glasgow.
“The huge numbers that have viewed and continue to view footage and photographs posted on social networking sites clearly demonstrate the deep concern there is to the policing of this event. Today we have received numerous queries from ordinary members of the public and football fans wishing to raise complaints about the actions of the police, they have been advised to contact the Complaints and Discipline department of Strathclyde Police.”
Celtic said any fan who has been wrongly treated by the police on their way to or from games should contact the Club with details by using the following email addresses
fansagainstcriminalisation@gmail.com and operations@celticfc.co.uk.
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