On Monday afternoon, Rangers confirmed that it had reviewed the highly publicised incident from a supporters bus travelling to the game against Ross County.
The decision from the club was to enforce collective punishment on the supporters bus as well as handing out significant bans to the individuals identified.
There has been widespread anger and opposition from the wider Rangers support across social media, following the racist content aimed at Celtic’s Japanese attacker, Kyogo Furuhashi.
In response, Rangers has acted swiftly and decisively.
Club Statement:
— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) August 23, 2021
A concise statement, as above, from Ibrox read:
“Rangers can confirm that an investigation is now complete in regard to a video circulating on social media yesterday.”
“The individuals involved have been identified and will be banned indefinitely from all Rangers games.”
“Furthermore, the RSC of which they were members and travelled with to the game, have been banned from receiving tickets for future fixtures.”
Verdict
A harsh punishment was always going to be likely and deserved for those fans who indulged in mindless, racist behaviour.
That is appropriate but surely with the punishment, there has to be a chance for people to rehab and redeem themselves?
The indefinite nature of the sanction means that this could potentially be something to be looked at in due course, from Rangers perspective.
With the bans to the individuals, also comes a collective punishment served to the RSC on whose bus the incident took place.
This element of the response could be considered very harsh, as it will impact on others not involved at all.
In addition to this, it could also come back to hurt the club and the wider fan base if the SPFL or other authorities seek to pursue the same collective punishment for other issues.
It fires a warning right through the supporters scene.
For now, the incident has been addressed and Rangers have acted in a timely manner with significant weight.
Those involved may face other consequences for which they will have to face for their actions.