The Green Brigade have released a bullish statement defending their banner that called for Israel to be shown the red card – with Celtic facing the prospect of another financial punishment.
The banner was unveiled during the Hoops’ Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich and is likely to land the Scottish champions in hot water with UEFA – having already been hit with fines over their support of Palestine. UEFA hit the Hoops with a £15,000 fine for “provocative message of an offensive nature” after their Palestine flag display against Atletico Madrid in 2022 which also included a fan banner.
European football’s governing body are likely to take action once again for a rule breach, but the Celtic ultras have moved to explain the banner. A lengthy statement with details of the conflict in the Middle East and make a series of claims over their stance. It read: “These crimes have no place in our beautiful game. Football fans have a unique and powerful platform and with such influence comes responsibility.
“We call on football fans around the world who value life, humanity, dignity, freedom, peace and justice to be courageous and to use your platform to stand against the crimes of Israel and stand with Palestine. You can make a stand by adopting to show Israel the red card and by flying the flag of Palestine.
“Football is an incredibly powerful tool. If the football world unites to isolate Israel, then other arenas will inevitably follow this example. It is time for both UEFA and FIFA to practice the values which they preach: equality, respect and human rights.”
The rule that Celtic look to have broken is Article 45,01 of UEFA’s handbook, which states: “The match organiser, together with the police commander for the match and the safety and security officer, must prevent any provocative action being taken by spectators inside or in the immediate vicinity of the stadium (unacceptable levels of verbal provocation from spectators towards players or opposing fans, racist behaviour, provocative banners or flags, etc.).”