Football: Celtic Avoid Firework Ban!
By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw
The Scottish Football Club, Celtic, have avoided a ban on their supporters attending the Champions League second leg play-off against Bayern Munich, due to take place on 18 February 2025, after a smoke bomb was thrown onto the pitch during the match against Aston Villa on 29 January 2025.
Instead, the UEFA Control, Ethics & Disciplinary Committee has imposed a fine of €10,000.
Celtic are already subject to a ban on selling tickets to away fans, suspended for two years, following the use of pyrotechnics at their Borussia Dortmund match in October of last year.
Celtic stated that:
“Pyrotechnics have absolutely no place at our matches and should further incidents occur, then, clearly, once again, there is an extremely high risk of our supporters not being permitted access to future matches.”
The support of fans at matches, especially away ones, is always a psychological boost for the players.
The penalty of a fine instead of a ban seems to be a rather lenient one, and it is also somewhat surprising that the latest pyrotechnics’ incident by the fans did not trigger the imposition of the earlier suspended ban imposed on them.
Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw may be contacted by e-mail at ‘
