Rangers have turned down Celtic’s demand to exclude the Union Bears ultras as a condition for receiving their away allocation for the Premiership clash on May 10.
Celtic’s stance comes in the aftermath of the chaotic scenes at Ibrox following their recent Scottish Cup win. More than 100 Rangers supporters — many from the section associated with the Union Bears — ran toward the Broomloan Stand after Celtic fans entered the pitch to celebrate.
The fallout from that incident has been serious. Among the arrests made was one relating to an alleged assault on a Celtic member of staff and a player.
Despite the tension, both clubs had been working under an agreement to provide each other with around five per cent of tickets for league matches — roughly 2,500 seats — after a long-running dispute that had previously seen away fans shut out entirely.
This latest disagreement has tested that arrangement.
The issue was referred to an SPFL board sub-committee, but they opted not to step in and force a resolution. Instead, they acknowledged the situation without overriding Celtic’s position.
In their view, the responsibility ultimately sits with the home club.
The committee described the breakdown in talks as “extremely regrettable” but made it clear they would not interfere with a safety assessment carried out by the club hosting the match. They also noted that the independent review into the Ibrox incident, commissioned by the SFA, is still ongoing.
A statement read: “The sub-committee then determined that, based on the evidence presented, it would not overrule a risk assessment carried out by the party legally responsible for the safety and security of the event, or interfere with the mitigation measures it considered to be necessary.
“Having reached that conclusion, the sub-committee confirmed that five per cent of the stadium was a reasonable allocation.”
That allocation remains available — but only if Rangers agree to Celtic’s condition.
An SPFL spokesperson also pointed to a wider issue in how disputes like this are handled.
“We have been consulting with all clubs for months regarding the rules in this area and had achieved consensus that the current deadline of 14 days before a match for a referral to the SPFL board is insufficient to allow a proper forensic analysis of the circumstances.”
A proposal is now set to be discussed at the league’s annual general meeting, which would move that deadline forward to 35 days before a fixture, giving more time to properly assess situations like this in future.