|TOP|One of Scotland’s most senior Catholics has hit out against UEFA after it cleared supporters of the Scottish Premier League team Rangers of sectarian chanting, a decision which left critics shocked.

Mario Conti, Archbishop of Glasgow, criticised the failure of the European footballing body to take action against the Ibrox supporters, who have long been associated with sectarian chanting.

Speaking to the Scottish Sunday Herald, Archbishop Conti called UEFA’s decision “unhelpful” and warned that it might “inadvertently give encouragement to the bigots”.

Rangers were found not guilty of discriminatory chants during the Champions League matches with Villareal and fined just under £9,000 after a fan smashed a window of the Spanish side’s bus as it returned home for the second leg.

|QUOTE|The Rangers fans were cleared of sectarianism by UEFA despite its own report citing instances of fans chanting the line “Up to our knees in Fenian blood” from the notorious We are the Billy Boys song, and shouting “F*** the Pope” during matches.

Archbishop Conti added that the ruling gave the impression of Scotland as a “hopelessly sectarian society” not worth bothering about.

In its report, Uefa appeared to wash its hands of any responsibility, indicating that it would not take action because the song had been sung for such a long time without any action from the Scottish football or government authorities.

“In examining the alleged discriminatory chants, the control and disciplinary body admitted that the nature of the song concerned – Hello! Hello! We Are the Billy Boys – related to a social problem in Scotland,” a Uefa spokesman said.

|AD|“The result is that this song is now somehow tolerated. Given this social and historical context, the control and disciplinary body said they considered that Uefa cannot demand an end to behaviour which has been tolerated for years. ”

The Archbishop of Glasgow praised Rangers football club and the Scottish Executive for their efforts to tackle the problem but warned that any developments may be hindered by UEFA’s decision.

“Clearly offensive chants are being used, and that is unacceptable,” he said. “However, I think Rangers’s efforts to root out the problem must be applauded, as must those of the Scottish Executive.

“The terms of Uefa’s judgement are unhelpful, appearing to give up on Scotland as a hopelessly sectarian society. Such a view will not help the club or the Executive in their efforts to deal with the problem, and may inadvertently give encouragement to the bigots.”

Uefa’s soft line faced fresh criticism over the weekend after it was revealed that Strathclyde police had in fact charged a “significant number” of people with sectarian crimes for singing the Billy Boys song.

Other leading figures have come out against the Uefa ruling, including Donald Gorrie, the LibDem MSP and anti-sectarian campaigner, who said: “I would agree [with Conti] that Uefa’s decision leads to the danger that the singing fraternity will interpret this as a vindication.

“It is important that the Scottish Executive, the clubs and everyone on the right side of the argument keep up the pressure to stop the minority of supporters from behaving in this way.”

A spokesman for the anti-sectarian charity Nil by Mouth said: “Every decent person in Scotland knows it’s totally unacceptable to sing a song that contains the line ‘we’re up to our knees in Fenian blood’, as David Murray, the chairman of Rangers, has personally confirmed, to his credit.

“UEFA’s judgement sets a very poor precedent for expected standards of behaviour. Its decision was bizarre and outrageous. ”

A spokesman for the Scottish Executive said a “national effort” was needed to completely eradicate sectarianism from Scottish society.