‘Primitive act’ cannot be tolerated says Maxwell

Scottish FA chief executive Ian Maxwell has condemned the incident which left assistant referee Calum Spence bloodied and in need of medical treatment at Livingston on Sunday.

Maxwell has also expressed the hope that what he describes as a “primitive act” will serve as a reminder for Scottish football to be on its guard against any potential increase in unacceptable crowd behaviour.

Spence was struck on the back of his head by a missile thrown from among a section of Rangers supporters at the Tony Macaroni Arena during Livingston’s

1-0 Premiership win over the Ibrox club. Police are treating the incident as assault and are seeking witnesses as they pursue the culprit.

“This kind of primitive act – whether something is thrown at players, staff or officials – should be driven out of the game,” said Maxwell, pictured.

“We all have a responsibility to behave in a responsible mannerandrespectthegame we all love.

“At a time when there is so much to be positive about with regards to Scottish football, hopefully this is a wakeup call for some that there are lines of basic decency that should not be crossed.

“I welcome Rangers’ decisiveness in moving quickly to try to identify the individual involved.

“I would also like to place on record my thanks to the Livingston medical staff for their assistance on the day.

“Morethananything,iwould like to pay tribute to the commitment and professionalism of Calum, who dealt with everything in context and continued with his role.”

Maxwell’s sentiments were echoed by John Fleming, head of referee operations at the Scottish FA, who spoke of his “horror” as events unfolded at Livingston.

“On Sunday a competitive contest between Livingston and Rangers was marred by an unsavoury incident, in what should have been a great advert for the game in this country,” said Fleming.

“Instead I was horrified to see one of our officials, Calum Spence, have to receive medical treatment after being struck by a missile thrown by a spectator.

“It is completely unacceptable for someone contributing to the sport to be the subject of such a cowardly, reckless act. I’m sure I speak for the vast majority of people when I say that it simply cannot be tolerated.”