UEFA decided not to fine Rangers fans following an investigation into anti-Catholic chanting during the recent Champions League matches against the Spanish side Villareal.
The chanting included insults to the Pope and also the notorious anti-Catholic ‘Billy Boys’ song which includes the line, “up to our knees in Fenian blood”.
The European footballing body shocked critics with the conclusions of its report, in which it appeared to wash its hands of any responsibility.
Instead, the report attributed the chants to “Scotland’s social and historical background”, declaring that songs such as the ‘Billy Boys’ had been sung during national and international matches for years “without either the Scottish football or governmental authorities being able to intervene”.
The report concluded: “The result is that this song is now somewhat tolerated. Given this social and historical context UEFA cannot demand an end to behaviour that has been tolerated for years.”Archbishop of Glasgow, Mario Conti, slammed the Uefa report, however, describing the terms of Uefa’s judgement as “unhelpful” and “appearing to give up on Scotland as a hopelessly sectarian society”.
He added that the position of UEFA may “inadvertently give encouragement to the bigots”.
The UEFA inspector responsible for drawing up the dossier on the conduct of Rangers’ supporters, Gerhard Kapl, has also come out to appeal his own organisation’s decision following his initial recommendation that Rangers be fined £25,000 and have one stand closed in the next European match that the Scottish Premier League team will play in.
Kapl’s proposals, which were turned down by UEFA, were suggested punishment for what he described as “discriminatory abuse” by the Rangers fans.
