OUTRAGE AT MISSILE THUG
‘Cowardly’ acts must be driven out
recovered and continued. When something ike that happens then you either succumb to it and don’t put yourself through it again – or you pick yourself up, dust yourself down, get back on with it and hope the authorities deal with it.
“I’m pretty confident that’s what will happen in this case as the young assistant referee was able to continue without any serious injury.
“The fact his skin was actually broken shows it was serious and the problem is if that hits an eye then it could have been a lot more serious.
“We had a really serious incident in UEFA this season where a referee had to be taken to hospital after being hit by an object during a Europa League match in Austria and we just can’t have that.
“Thankfully in Scotland it’s isolated rather than common. The game in Scotland is bouncing back again and it’s great to see that. You don’t want this to detract from what’s happening on the pitch.
“There is a suggestion the culprit was caught on camera and it was good to see the Rangers fans demanding the person has to be identified because there’s no place for people like that in the game.”
Scottish referees union Prospect called on the SFA to launch an investigation, and said: “We strongly condemn the unacceptable incident in the game.
“This cannot be tolerated. Referees and officials are entitled to a safe workplace, free from intimidation and violence. We call on the SFA to carry out an urgent full investigation.”
But Dallas, UEFA’s deputy chief refereeing officer, added: “Unfortunately you can’t stop it, you just hope that with the security and the cameras they have now that they catch the perpetrator.
“It’s not something common that happens in the game in Scotland – hopefully it’s been a rogue incident.
“I’m sure the authorities will identify the guy.
“But thankfully we don’t see a lot of it – missiles being thrown onto the pitch at match officials or players is definitely not pleasant when it happens.
“I’m in Spain at the moment so I didn’t see the incident live. But I did see the pictures on the BBC website through my phone – and those images are not what we want to see in football.” FROM BACK PAGE Rangers was a wake-up call for fans over conduct that has no place in our game.
Disgust over the incident that marred the Lions’ 1-0 win has been universal as television pictures show the missile being thrown from the area of the away support.
Rangers have pledged to try to root out the culprit and Maxwell said: “This kind of primitive act – whether something is thrown at players, staff or officials – should be driven out of the game.
“We all have a responsibility to behave in a responsible manner and respect the game we all love. At a time when there is so much to be positive about with regards to Scottish football, hopefully this is a wake-up call for some 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.
“More than anything, I would like to pay tribute to the commitment and professionalism of Calum, who dealt with everything in context and continued with his role.”
Maxwell’s view was echoed by head of referee operations John Fleming, who says such cowardly acts must be banished from Scottish football.
He said: “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.
“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’s completely unacceptable for someone contributing to the sport to be the subject of such a cowardly, reckless act.
“I’m sure that I speak for the vast majority when I say it simply cannot be tolerated.”