SCOTTISH FOOTBALL HAS TO FOLLOW UEFA’S LEAD

THE sanction which UEFA handed down to Rangers last week might just be the best thing that could have happened to Scottish football. And no, let me make one thing crystal clear right from the outset, I’m not saying that as a former Celtic player. Sectarianism is not a points-scoring system. Anyone who indulges in whataboutery and conspiracy theories needs to wake up and realise they are part of the problem. In the past, my old club have been just as guilty as Rangers. In 2011, for instance, the club were fined £12,700 for ‘illicit chants’ — pro-IRA songs — from a section of the crowd in a Europa League tie against Rennes in Glasgow. But what UEFA have done by ordering Rangers to close a section of Ibrox for their game against Legia Warsaw has set a clear precedent. This has to be a line in the sand and a watershed moment which the footballing authorities in this country take notice of. The SFA and SPFL are either unwilling or unable to tackle a problem which has affected high-profile figures like Steve Clarke, Derek McInnes and Neil Lennon over the past year. Their silence has been embarrassing. Kids go to football matches these days and are subjected to idiots shouting about the Pope, Fenians and the IRA. It’s cringeworthy. What do our governing bodies do about it? The square root of you know what. They don’t want to know. Sectarianism has been allowed to become one of the great taboos of Scottish society. It’s almost like if you don’t acknowledge it and don’t talk about it, then it doesn’t really exist. We can only hope UEFA have finally shamed the decision-makers in Scottish football into action.