Sturgeon treating Rangers and Celtic differently, insists Lennon
manager Neil Lennon has accused First Minister Nicola Sturgeon of “hypocrisy” in her reaction to footballing Covid-19 breaches.
Sturgeon said this week that she didn’t care “whether it is Celtic, Rangers or any other club... it's not on, so please stop breaking the rules," in response to five players from the Ibrox club receiving fixed penalty notices from police for attending a gathering last Saturday evening.
Her tone was noticeably softer than when she implied Celtic had “abused” the “privceltic ileges” given to those in elite sport during the pandemic in the aftermath of the Parkhead club’s Scottish Government-sanctioned Dubai winter training camp last month.
The fact Holyrood has not acted on law breaking from Rangers’ players - which followed a Scottish Government statement that chose to “commend” the Ibrox club for bans they handed to Jordan Jones and George Edmundson for attending a party in November - is in sharp contrast with the reprimand she gave Celtic and Aberdeen for Covid-19 breaches in August, when, unlike now, the country was not in lockdown.
At that time, Sturgeon issued Scottish football with a “yellow card” she said would become a red card were there further breaches as the two clubs had games postponed. It followed Celtic’s Boli Bolingoli failing to quarantine after making an unauthorised trip to Spain and eight Aberdeen players being pictured together in city bars.
Lennon stressed he did not want to “take on the Government again” but admitted to “discontent” over the tone of Sturgeon’s language in discussing Rangers this week compared to her choice of words over Celtic in January and August. "There just seemed to be a different tack to when she was speaking about us,” he said.
“The fact she brought us into the answer baffled me as well.
I think we as a club have been treated differently from other clubs, and other parts of society as well. I said all I needed to say after Dubai. I said it smacked of hypocrisy and I am not changing from that.
“I could use a lot of words [for this week’s Sturgeon response]. Odd. Hypocritical. But I’m not going to because I don’t want the story to be about me. I have come out and called it as I saw it. And people have thrown all sorts back at me. But my conscience was clear at the time and still is.
"I think the talk of privilege is overplayed. I think 95 per cent in football have adhered to the rules and protocols. The tests have been carried out at great expense by clubs all season. It costs a lot to set up the stadiums, particularly ours. Now we take four or five coaches to games, which has changed since Dubai for some reason.”
Pressed on inconsistencies in the treatment of Celtic and Rangers over Covid-19 issues, Lennon effectively accused the media of responsibility for the clubs being judged differently.
"You hauled us over the coals, you lot, after Dubai - pundits, journalists,” he said. "It's your job to write about it. You create the narrative. I don't need to comment on any other club and how they've been treated, consistently or inconsistently. It's not my job to write about it or answer questions on it."