THE executive of Celtic Boys Club announced last night that a senior official had been suspended from his post following allegations of indecent behaviour.
The move came after Strathclyde Police confirmed yesterday it was investigating claims of indecent behaviour dating back several years in connection with the club.
Following an hour-long meeting, executive chairman Tony McGuinness said: ``The executive of the Celtic Boys Club at this evening's meeting discussed the allegations made in today's press against Jim Torbett.
``Pending the outcome of a full investigation, and in the interests of all parties, Mr Torbett has been excused from his duties at the Celtic Boys Club, which are purely administrative in nature.
``The allegations made are of a very serious nature and the parties concerned have a responsibility to report any relevant information to the police.''
Mr McGuinness added: ``We are advised that there could well be legal proceedings arising from these reports and feel it inappropriate to make further comment at this time.''
The police investigation was launched after detectives received a complaint several weeks ago from former boys club player David Gordon. Their inquiries are expected to include interviews with other former boys club players.
In a statement issued yesterday, Strathclyde Police said: ``We can confirm that a complaint has been made involving allegations of indecency going back a number of years concerning an individual at Celtic Boys Club. At this stage of our inquiries, it would be inappropriate to identify the individual involved or specify the nature of the allegations.''
One police source added that, if other people came forward with complaints, detectives would take statements and assess the situation before deciding whether to take any further action.
The police move follows an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse of young players, made against another man connected with Celtic Boys Club, which was carried out late last year and early this year.
The earlier investigation included inquiries into an alleged incident involving another person during a Celtic Boys Club trip to the United States in 1991 for a tournament in New Jersey.
Several young players, some now with other senior clubs, were interviewed along with past and present coaching staff but the police investigation did not lead to any charges being pressed, apparently because the boy concerned would not make a complaint.
A police spokesman said at the time of the investigation that the allegations had not been substantiated and that no report had been forwarded to the procurator-fiscal.
One of the police officers leading the current investigation, Detective Chief Inspector John Boyd, said yesterday that it was expected that other former players would be spoken to within the next few days and said anyone with information about the latest allegations should contact the police at London Road police office in Glasgow.
Celtic managing director Fergus McCann said yesterday that ``a couple of reports'' had been relayed to Celtic regarding alleged incidents in the early 1970s and that these were being followed up.
He said: ``One written statement has been supplied. However, others have failed to confirm in writing, despite requests from the club. To our knowledge, no-one has made an official complaint to the police, despite the club advising them to do so.''
Mr McCann went on: ``These are very serious allegations and the parties concerned have a responsibility to report all information to the police so the matter can be dealt with properly.''
Stressing that he did not believe it was appropriate to comment on the former Celtic board's dealings in the matter, he said the club would act or comment further only when it was in full possession of the facts.
He added: ``I would like to make it clear that this matter has no current link to Celtic Football Club.''
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