Celtic 3-1 Hearts: Spectators say players, staff suffer ‘severe physical and verbal abuse’ after ‘disgraceful’ Celtic Park pitch invasion | football news

Hearts said their players and staff suffered “severe physical and verbal abuse” after the “disgraceful”, “unacceptable” and “disrespectful” pitch attack at Celtic Park.

Moments after Calum Osmande’s goal Won the Scottish Premiership title for CelticMany home fans rushed onto the pitch in celebration, many facing off against beaten opponents in scenes which Hearts said had “embarrassed Scottish football”.

Hearts were brought down the tunnel by club officials and players were photographed leaving the field in their match kit due to the “intimidating and threatening atmosphere”.

In a statement, the Tynecastle Park club added that “the safety of our staff was our main focus during this unacceptable scene”, meaning they could not attend post-match media duties, nor thank the 752 away fans inside Parkhead.

A Police Scotland statement on Saturday said the force was reviewing the incident and “whether any of their players were assaulted on the pitch at the conclusion of the event in connection with Heart of Midlothian FC.”

Sky Sports News The SPFL and Celtic have also been contacted for comment.

Police called for urgent talks with Celtic

Police said they later dealt with “unacceptable violence and hostility” as fans gathered in Glasgow to celebrate Celtic’s title win.

A statement added: “Approximately 3,000 people made their way to the Tronggate area of ​​the city after the match, where we encountered significant levels of chaos in which officers were injured. Missiles, including glass bottles, were thrown at them while attending to a medical emergency.

“Specially trained public order officers were deployed and steps were taken to restore order, disperse the crowd and make arrests. Extensive investigations are underway to identify others involved and more arrests will be made.”

Assistant Chief Constable Mark Sutherland added: “The level of criminal behavior witnessed, particularly the hostility directed towards our officers, is simply unacceptable and cannot be tolerated. Those involved will no doubt be identified and arrested.

“Urgent discussions are needed with other stakeholders including Celtic, the wider Scottish football authority and Glasgow City Council to achieve a solution that improves public safety, minimizes disruption and prevents this from happening again.”

Complete heart statement

Heart of Midlothian condemn the disgraceful display at Celtic Park this afternoon which has once again embarrassed Scottish football.

Reports of serious physical and verbal abuse towards our players and staff, on the pitch and elsewhere, are deeply disturbing. We are investigating this fully and are in discussion with Police Scotland.

We will have no further comment at this time other than to say that it is completely unacceptable to put our players and staff in this situation.

Given the menacing and threatening atmosphere inside the stadium, our entire staff had no choice but to leave immediately without taking post-match media duties. To our media partners, we apologize but the safety of our staff was our main focus during this unacceptable scene.

The pitch invasion leads to a chaotic end and nobody knows if the match is over. Our players were then denied the opportunity to thank our fantastic fans – sensational to a man – for their support this afternoon and throughout the season.

We expect the strongest possible action by football authorities to protect the safety of players and supporters and the integrity of our game.

This season has seen Hearts capture the imagination of football fans not only in Scotland, but across the world. We pay tribute to Derek McInnes, his staff, the first team and the supporters, who have done the club proud this season. None of them deserved the disgraceful scene that unfolded.

McFadden and Sutton hit out at the full-time scene

Former Scotland striker James McFadden said immediately on Sky Sports: “This is unacceptable. Players should be safe on the football pitch. You don’t want to see that. There will always be people who will spoil it for everyone else.

“You can hear most of the Celtic fans react here with the fans on the pitch.

“You don’t want to see that. It’s a game of football, you’ve got two teams who have earned the right to go toe-to-toe on a day like this, and emerge with the trophy as winners. Hearts played their role by a huge stretch, and you don’t want to see fans overspill.

“I understand the emotion of the occasion; you have the right to celebrate but you can’t cross the line. If it’s true that Hearts players have been assaulted, that’s absolutely unacceptable.”

Sky Sports’ Chris Sutton added: “There’s no room for that. You can imagine how the Hearts players felt after such a long season and then losing at the end.”

O’Neill: Officials have to look at it

Asked about the scene after the game, Celtic boss Martin O’Neill said: “If some Hearts players are accused, that’s not right at all.

“I didn’t really see the scenes at the end because I thought the game wasn’t over, so I was trying to push some of our fans back out of the pitch to play what was left.

“Obviously, at 3-1, I think the fourth official said to me, there was a minute left when we scored, so with the best will in the world, they wouldn’t get two goals at that time.

“Obviously, there’s been a lot of commotion in the tunnel, so I don’t know, but back to the point, if Hearts players are accused by some of our fans, it’s pretty serious. To be honest, I’m not pushing it aside, it would be something that the officials or the public would have to look at.”