Sectarian red card

Two years have passed since the Morrow Report on sectarianism said that while football was only part of the jigsaw, the reluctance of the football authorities to demonstrate serious commitment on this issue means that “strict liability” must remain an option.

To Scotland’s shame, we still have vandalism, flares, coin and bottle-throwing, pitch invasions, repulsive singing, cringeworthy banners and players assaulted, and all of it beamed around the world.

On 5 March, Humza Yousaf, the Justice Secretary, stated, encouragingly, that nothing was off the table including “strict liability”, though since

then he has talked of licensing football grounds and his dismay at the lack of a response from the football authorities.

There has been a powerful quote by the PFA chief executive, Fraser Wishart, reminding us that the pitch is the players’ place of work and they must be free from violence. Depute Chief Constable Will Kerr (who served for decades in Northern Ireland) was stunned at the level of disorder at our matches.

We still await a statement from the football authorities, who have studiously avoided media interviews. “Are we living in the dark ages?” Steve Clark, the Kilmarnock manager, asked. It deserves a response.

JOHN V LLOYD

Keith Place, Inverkeithing, Fife