Rule changes needed to deal with pitch invasions - Scottish FA

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• Published1 hour ago

Scottish football must look at adapting their rules to try and bring an end to pitch invasions from fans, says Scottish FA chief executive Ian Maxwell.

The SPFL has initiated disciplinary investigations into five fixtures where supporters encroached on the field of play, including two games in the Premiership title run in.

And an independent review into the scenes following Celtic's Scottish Cup quarter-final win over Rangers - when supporters from both clubs rushed the pitch - is expected to deliver its findings next week.

Speaking to BBC Sport Scotland, Maxwell said that the phenomena has shifted from a rare, celebratory occasion to a more prevalent, dangerous issue.

And while entering the field of play is a criminal offence in England and Wales, it is not currently in Scotland.

"Football needs to come together to try and mitigate this," he said. "We had a meeting this week and pitch incursions were at the top of the agenda.

"We need to look at our rules - do they need amended, updated or changed? We need to work with clubs to understand what ability we all have to try and stop it.

"The police have got a role to play and the SPFL talked about legislation around criminalising coming on to the pitch and tailgating getting in the stadiums.

"That would help, but it is not something that one body's going to fix on their own. whether it's going to take something from the police and something from the football authorities and the clubs to eradicate it."

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Earlier this month, a 19-year-old man was charged "in connection with a data protection offence" after referee John Beaton's personal details were leaked online.

That came after the offical awarded a controversial late penalty to eventual champions Celtic in the penultimate round of games in the title race.

Beaton and his family, the Scottish FA said, had to have police surveillance at their home following the incident.

"When you get to the point that referees' details are leaked, that's unacceptable we cannot allow that to happen under any circumstances," Maxwell added.

"We need to look at the way clubs speak after matches, what managers say, what players say, what the media say in terms of fanning the flames and talking about bias and conspiracy.

"It's not the first time I've dealt with that in my time as chief executive and it's unacceptable by anybody's standards, so again we need to look at our rules and stop that kind of inflammatory discussion and debate.

"Criticism is part of the game and it always will be but when it steps into bias and conspiracy it steps across a line and we need to take action at that point."

'Nonsense to say Scotland has VAR light'

The use of VAR was a frequent talking point this season and Maxwell denies that Scotland has only a basic version of the technology.

He said the system is the same as "over 50% of the Uefa nations", with the same technology and number of cameras.

"I hear commentary about VAR light on a regular basis and it's nonsense," Maxwell added. "We have exactly the same system as everybody else.

"VAR is doing what it should in terms of it's eradicating errors. But we don't talk about them, we talk about the lower number that are still incorrect decisions.

"Sometimes they're not even incorrect, they just spark a bit of debate because you think they're right or wrong depending on which team you support."

Related topics

• Scottish Premiership
• Scottish League One
• Scottish League Two
• Scottish Championship
• Scottish Football