Statement re collective punishment of Green Brigade members
The Celtic Trust, as one of the founding organisations of the Celtic Fans Collective, fully endorses the statement released by the Collective earlier today.
In a week in which we have seen a blatant disregard demonstrated by the Board for the rights of shareholders, various stories emerging regarding attacks on the independent fan media, who are part of the CFC, and now the wholesale collective punishment of an entire group of fans, we wish to raise some questions about both the process used in the GB case and the possible motivation behind it.
The Board made a decision to impose a ‘suspended’ sentence on the Green Brigade in relation to a show of support for Palestine last season; a show of support which many Celtic fans fully endorse. The latest incident, at the Falkirk game on 29 October, has now been used as a pretext for the imposition of what is effectively a six-match ban on everyone registered with the Club for away tickets as part of that group.
The Board authorised the release of a rather poor-quality video which shows no more than fans leaving the section. We don’t know why they left and the video doesn’t tell us how quickly they returned. The Trust is aware that the stadium in general, and that stand in particular, is saturated with security cameras and this raises the question of why there is not better evidence and, if there is, why it has not been shared given that this video has been?
Other questions to be raised are the following:
- Why has the club not responded to the numerous complaints regarding the stewarding of that area of the ground?
- Why has the club not responded to the specific complaints made by supporters about that incident?
- Why has the club not applied the same protocol for examining claims of bad behaviour against fans as they do when it relates to well-documented, and ultimately substantiated, allegations against the police? Specifically, it took eight months to confirm the police misconduct on London Road earlier in the year and 9 days for them to impose a collective ban on fans with no investigation whatsoever.
- Even if we accept that one person assaulted a steward, which, based on what is publicly available, we cannot, why is the punishment imposed on a much larger group of people?
- If a member of one of the other associations had committed an assault would the Club withdraw the tickets of all members of that association?
There have been multiple incidences of problems in that area of the ground which derive directly from the decisions of the Celtic Board to place barriers without consultation; heavy handed stewarding and policing; and multiple ticket checks to access toilets and kiosks which are not applied anywhere else. This has led to a heightened risk for all fans and any incident has to be seen in that context. The Celtic Board should not casually use serious and legal terminology such as ‘assault’ in its communications.
We are also mindful of the many cases of fans being wrongly accused and subsequently exonerated. We also firmly believe that supporters should not be prevented from attending games they have paid for without a proper investigation and that football fans should have at least the same rights as every other citizen in any other context. You should not be expected to surrender your civil rights when you enter a football ground.
As to motivation, we are of the view that the timing of this announcement is itself open to question. At a time when the Board is under united and mounting pressure from the fans under the leadership of the Celtic Fans Collective, it seems enormously convenient for them to be attacking the various elements of that Collective in, what seems to be, an attempt to sow division.
Finally, we note the unusual presence of the principal shareholder at the Falkirk game. Given it is unclear what specific role he plays in Club decision-making (as seen recently when he was allowed to take over an official club communication channel to publish a personal statement), to what extent has he been involved in this decision? This is particularly important given the protest which preceded the game outside the Main Stand where he was the subject of much of the supporters’ ire.
At this point, there are more questions than answers. We call on Celtic supporters not to be distracted by this performance and to continue to focus our attention on the abysmal performance of this Board.
No to Collective punishment
Not another Penny