OLD FIRM TIE FACING AXE
plans further talks in person with chief constable Iain Livingstone before deciding if the game is too big a threat to public health and safety.
Sturgeon said: “In terms of future fixtures, there are a variety of discussions happening over the course of this week, including one between myself and the chief constable.
“We will report back in due course, certainly before the scheduled Old Firm match on March 21.
“The reason why we’ve tried to keep football – and elite sport generally – going is not for the benefit of the elite sportspeople but for the fans. Everybody is deprived of so much that the ability to watch a match and cheer on your team on TV should be something people have the ability to do.
“But a minority can’t be allowed to act irresponsibly. So I hope we don’t have to spoil that for the majority but we will have to assure ourselves that there will be no repeat of the scenes we saw at the weekend.
“And that, frankly, is still very much work in progress.”
Greens leader Patrick Harvie questioned why Rangers were not being effectively shut down.
But Sturgeon replied: “I understand why, for any football team, winning the league – particularly after a long period of time – is a big occasion. I get that.
“But people are being asked to forego all sorts of things right now and there can be no exceptions if we are, frankly, to get through this next phase as quickly as we want to and as safely as all of us want to.
“Rangers could have done more to help avoid this happening just as Celtic should have made different decisions about certain things they did earlier in the year.
“I don’t care about the colour of the shirt. I care about the safety of the citizens of Glasgow and people across Scotland.”
Rangers yesterday fired off an angry letter to St Andrew’s House insisting the club had done all that they could. Chairman Douglas Park’s complaint said: “Police intelligence indicated some fans would congregate in groups given the fact that is not only a historic achievement but also due to behaviour from the other half of the Old Firm outside Parkhead in December.”
That infuriated their rivals with Celts tweeting: “We’re not half of anything. Not our problem #OneClubsince1888.”
Sturgeon said: “At no point – unless I’ve missed it – did Rangers simply and unequivocally say to their fans ‘stay at home’ or, when they were gathering say ‘go home’. These are things all of us have to take responsibility for.”
Yesterday five Rangers players – Bongani Zungu, Nathan Patterson, Calvin Bassey, Brian Kinnear and Dapo Mebude – were cited by the SFA for breaching regulations by attending a house party last month.
They’re set for huge bans at a hearing on March 25.
Asked about the fans’ title party in an interview with ITV, boss Steven Gerrard said: “I can say from the bottom of my heart we did everything we could to calm that situation down.”
Gerrard was also fighting off talk of taking Jurgen Klopp’s job at Anfield. He said: “Liverpool have one of the best managers leading our club, I love him. I hope he stays for a few years. I’ve got a job here.”
Bookies have Klopp at 6-1 for the Germany job but he ruled himself out last night and said: “Am I available for that job? No. After the summer? No.”