I am hearing that there was an interesting discussion at Hampden yesterday.
Some senior folk in football administration were informally discussing the post-match comments of Neil Francis Lennon.
The Irishman pointed out that the usual bile had been directed at him throughout the match by the klan.
Consequently, the Hibernian manager had felt justified in “giving some back”.
This was discussed, in an informal setting, at the home of the national game.
One view was that if the 5-5 game had been the first of the season then the Compliance Officer might have been compelled to act against Sevco.
The reasoning was that because it was discriminatory chanting directed against a specific individual then it would be difficult not to act.
However, as it was the last on the fixture card then it was easy to let it go.
That was the opinion that was proffered yesterday at Hampden.
I thought this an interesting observation and worth passing on.
Of course, until Strict Liability is brought in and fairly applied then the klan will act with impunity in Scotland.
I recall the season 2010-2011 which was the penultimate one of old Rangers.
During that European campaign, I was regularly in contact with the UEFA Media office to ascertain the identity of the match delegate.
I wanted to know their level of proficiency in the English language and whether or not they were aware of the history of the Rangers fans.
Finally, the Ibrox club was sanctioned and their next away match in the UCL Champions League would see a ban on travelling fans.
I think it is FARE to say that Rangers CEO Martin Bain did not take the news very well:
“We have had serious concerns about the integrity of the evidence compiled by the Fare organisation and that remains the case.
“We are also of the opinion that Fare has been influenced by people who make it their business to damage our club in any way they can.”
Obviously, I have no idea to whom Mr Bain was referring.
When the match was played in Sweden in a klan free environment Rangers couldn’t get over the line.
Despite being under the expert direction of Super Salary it was the Swedish team that progressed into the UCL Group Stages.
Without that revenue, Craig Whyte’s plans crumbled.
I knew it was only a matter of time before an insolvency event happened to Rangers that season.
Moreover, I said so.
My reporting from the time can be accessed on the blog archive here.
It is nice to think that the absence of The People in Malmo might have assisted in the demise of that toxic football club.
Sadly, what the klan espouses is still socially acceptable in nice fluffy multi-cultural Scotland.
Because of that, the Sevco match day experience is still a major vehicle for anti-Irish racism.
Of course, it should not matter when in the fixture card the discriminatory chanting occurs.
It doesn’t to UEFA and it shouldn’t to the SPFL.
