SPFL Chief Executive Neil Doncaster has condemned the fan who approached Rangers star James Tavernier during Friday night’s draw against Hibernian at Easter Road, as reported by The Scottish Sun.
A Hibernian supported managed to evade stewards at the stadium and tangle with the Gers captain in a incident that could have been a lot worse had the person’s intentions been more sinister.
It provoked outrage from across Scottish football and while the SPFL were slow to respond with an official statement, Doncaster did comment on the issue yesterday.
As quoted by The Scottish Sun, the SPFL chief said:
We utterly condemn the reprehensible behaviour shown by the individual who invaded the pitch on Friday night.
We welcome the comments made by Leeann Dempster in tackling unacceptable conduct.
We will of course review the specific circumstances of that event in conjunction with the match delegate and the police and take any appropriate steps.
Talk is of course cheap and time will tell whether any appropriate action will be taken against Hibernian or plans put in place to stop a similar incident happening in the future.
Clearly this is not something unique to Scottish football but the league and Scottish FA must now lead the way in clamping down on poor fan behaviour after a number of unacceptable incidents so far this season.
Clubs and fans may find that if there is no self-policing on this issue then the Scottish Government may get involved, which nobody in the game really wants.