The trophy is placed on display for the photographers before the soccer Champions League draw in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Celtic face further UEFA punishment for throwing fireworks and displaying an illicit banner during last week’s Champions League defeat to Lazio, after they were fined for fan behaviour in loss at Feyenoord last month.
UEFA have opened disciplinary proceedings against Celtic over the throwing of fireworks and displaying illicit banners during last week’s Champions League defeat to Lazio.
Europe’s governing body have confirmed to Mail Sport that a case has been opened against the Scottish Premiership champions — weeks after pyrotechnics against Feyenoord in Rotterdam landed the club a £23,000 fine.
UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body will consider the latest charges after the Green Brigade ultras unfurled a giant ‘anti-fascist’ banner in the 2-1 home defeat to Lazio.
Similar imagery, wording and symbols landed the club a £13,000 fine when the Serie A side travelled to Glasgow for a Europa League group-stage game in 2019.
Along with the words ‘Anti-Fascist Glasgow Celtic’, the circular banner bore an image of former Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini — upside down — with the words ‘Follow Your Leader’.
Celtic fans unfurled an anti-fascist banner at their game against Lazio last week
They could now be punished by UEFA, and this comes just weeks after they were fined by the governing body for pyrotechnics during their defeat at Feyenoord
A message also read: ‘Lazio Vaffanculo’ — which, translated into Italian, tells the away team to ‘f*** off’.
Disciplinary fines from UEFA have become a regular occurrence for Celtic — with appeals to fans to stop falling on deaf ears.
A section of the travelling support let off flares and fireworks inside Feyenoord’s De Kuip Stadium as their side fell to a 2-0 defeat to the Dutch champions in the opening game of Group E.
Last season, the club were also issued with fines for fan misconduct during games against Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donetsk. And further UEFA action seems inevitable after the Green Brigade called on fans to display Palestine flags during the Champions League game against Atletico Madrid on October 25.
The move follows a statement from the Scottish Premiership champions condemning the display in the standing section of the stadium during the weekend win over Kilmarnock.
The show of support — banners stating ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘Victory to the Resistance’ surrounded by Palestinian flags — came on a weekend of bloodshed in the Middle East.
Hamas gunmen killed over a thousand civilians after launching an attack on Israel from Gaza, with Israel retaliating with air strikes and a blockade of Gaza.
Stressing that Celtic was ‘a football club’ and ‘not a political organisation’, the club said ‘it is entirely inappropriate for any group of individuals to use Celtic Park as a vehicle for such messages’.
