Football club apology for sectarian video
A Perthshire football club has apologised over footage that emerged online of sectarian singing apparently at its social club.
The 12-second video, said to be taken at Luncarty FC’s social club, shows a group of people singing about the Irish Republican Army (IRA) along to “Beautiful Sunday” by Daniel Boone.
It has been reported that the video was taken after Luncarty played against St Roch’s of Glasgow on July 3.
In the video posted on Twitter the group are heard singing: “Oh, oh, oh, it’s the republican army. It’s the I, I, I, IRA.”
The post has since been removed. Following its release, Luncarty FC launched an internal investigation, however, a club spokesperson said last week that nobody associated with Luncarty FC was part of the video.
Following the conclusion of the investigation all evidence was shared with the footballing authorities and an official club statement was released.
“Luncarty FC social club committee and officials would like to apologise for any offence caused by an incident in the club on Saturday, July 3,” the statement read.
“We do not condone or tolerate this behaviour and it does not align to the values and ethics of Luncarty FC.
“A full investigation has taken place this week and all evidence and statements have been shared with the relevant authorities.”
A spokesperson for St Roch’s Juniors said: “Having reviewed the footage of this video, its content does not correlate with the values and ethos of our club.
“We have been widely recognised for our community and charitable work and we welcome fans from every background in Scottish society.
“We continue to investigate the allegations made in the video, and associated comments, however, we are satisfied that no one from our club or Luncarty FC for that matter can be seen joining in with the ‘singing’.
“We reject bigotry and all forms of intolerance.”
St Roch’s also questioned the motives in making the video public and also seemed to suggest it might be fake.
A Police Scotland spokesperson confirmed the matter has not been reported to the police.