Celtic and Rangers have both been ordered to play their next home Scottish Cup ties behind closed doors, a sanction for supporter disorder last season.
The punishment falls on the same competition in which the offences occurred and on both clubs at once, which is the part that will be argued about. It removes a home tie’s atmosphere and its gate receipts, and it does so to two sets of supporters who will point out that the people responsible are not the people being kept out.
The cost of an empty ground
A closed-doors tie at either ground removes a five-figure crowd. For Celtic and Rangers the money matters less than the precedent: a sanction applied to a full stadium rather than to a section of it is the strongest signal Scottish football has sent on this in years, and it is now the benchmark for whatever comes next.
Neither club had a good week otherwise. Rangers were counting the cost of a European exit their own manager could not defend.
