“I don’t think it happens somewhere in Europe” – 49 years-old Ranger Coach Philippe Clement break silence and makes a statement regarding Celtic Fc decision on Rangers fans not allowed at the Old Firm derby next weekend match

The Belgian manager has provided a response to the decision made by Celtic.

At the Old Firm derby that will take place the following weekend, Philippe Clement has stated his dissatisfaction with the fact that Rangers will not have any fans there.

Due to the fact that the Hoops have declined their opponents’ request for a limited allocation, the game that will take place at Celtic Park will be played without any away spectators. This decision comes as the dispute between the two teams on the presence of away fans continues.

It was ruled by a subcommittee of the SPFL board that issuing zero tickets was a “unreasonable” approach to take, and Celtic was successful in winning the matter that was presented before them. In their response, officials from Light Blues issued a scathing statement, in which they claimed that an adequate number of briefs could not be delivered owing to a lack of supporting evidence from Celtic. Celtic is eager to revert to the previous distribution of 7,000 visiting punters at both stadiums.

The Hoops provided a response last night, stating that they are steadfast in their decision due to the concern of safety on the day of the match. Following the cancellation of 700 tickets for the Ibrox match in September, Celts cited “safety issues” as the reason for their decision. Rangers decreased Celtic’s away allocation from the full Broomloan Stand to 700 seats in 2018, which is the same allocation provided to all other Premiership clubs. This has caused the controversy to escalate since Rangers made this increase.

There have been a lot of fans and pundits who have voiced their opinions on the matter, and the majority of them believe that it is a horrible look to have no visiting fans, despite the fact that Gordon Strachan declared that it was a “positive.”

Clement, the manager of the Gers, has now spoken out about the situation and expressed his sadness of the situation.

In an interview with BBC Sportsound, he stated, “It is always a disappointment whenever we play a game for which there are no fans present.” The fact that they do that is something that I do not believe occurs anywhere in Europe.

My role entails providing the Rangers players with training and coaching. I am not preoccupied with other things or political matters at the moment. Decisions about those matters are to be made by the board of directors. “I am concentrating on football.”

Breaking News: According to Tom English, the Scottish Professional Football League is being questioned about Celtic’s ‘unreasonable’ behavior in the Rangers dispute

Tom English is of the opinion that the Scottish Premier League ought to pay attention to the fact that Rangers will once again play Celtic at Parkhead without any away fans.

The writer for BBC Sport responded on Twitter on December 19, following the release of a statement by the Light Blues in which they referred to the situation as “grossly unfair,” so putting doubt on the supposed corporate governance study that the league was conducting.

Despite the fact that the league’s subcommittee sided with the club on the judgment that it was “unreasonable” for Celtic to admit zero away fans, there will be no Rangers fans present in the Old Firm derby on December 30. This is because the Bhoys simply failed to offer sufficient evidence for the committee to decide how many fans should be allowed to attend.

English wrote the following in response to the statement that the Gers made regarding the standoff regarding tickets: “Questions for the SPFL to answer here.” At what point did the term “unreasonable” become sanctioned?

“And how is the review of the corporate governance proceeding?”

During the summer, the chairman of the SPFL, Murdoch MacLennan, made the announcement that the “independent review” would be conducted. This came after the league was compelled to apologize to Rangers for the sponsorship dispute [STV, 14 July].

Totally unfit for the job at hand

To put it another way, if the subcommittee is able to make the decision to back Rangers’ position, but the conclusion turns out to be the contrary owing to Celtic’s refusal to cooperate, then the exercise was a complete and utter waste of time.

The chorus of voices that are demanding for the restoration of away fans in Old Firm derbies at Ibrox and Parkhead continue to fall on deaf ears as a result of the fighting that is taking place at the executive level.

Club Statement | Old Firm Ticketing

— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) December 19, 2023

It is a step in the right direction for the Rangers administration to be striving to bring back traveling assistance to the game since the current arrangement is not beneficial to anyone.

If, on the other hand, the SPFL is able to support that stance while doing nothing to see it implemented, then their purported authority is rendered meaningless. Furthermore, if the governance review is taking place, it does not appear to be having much of an impact if the Gers have been left on the wrong end of another significant decision for such a ridiculous reason.

The atmosphere at one of the most important derbies in world football suffers when fans from one side are absent from the stadium. Finger-pointing about who initiated the controversy a long time ago has worn thin, but despite Ibrox’s willingness, it does not appear that the situation is any closer to being resolved.

It is the responsibility of the league administration to intervene in situations such as this one; nevertheless, the Premier Football League has demonstrated that it is absolutely helpless in this regard.