STEWART Regan, the SFA chief executive, last night warned supporters they could be putting lives at risk with their use of flares at football matches.
The governing body has launched an investigation into the conduct of a handful of Celtic fans at the Scottish Cup fourth round game against Stranraer at Stair Park on Sunday.
Regan confirmed the Glasgow club could face a fine – but he stressed that Scottish clubs were set to look at introducing far tougher “strict liability” rules in the near future.
He is concerned at the serious safety threat posed by the continued use of fireworks at matches in this country and is keen for decisive action to be taken to stamp it out.
“The behaviour of a small minority has let down the club, let down the players and put a bit of a stain on what was undoubtedly a great weekend of Scottish Cup football,” he said.
“There is no place for the type of behaviour that we saw. It is idiotic behaviour because it’s dangerous and flares in particular can threaten people’s lives at the end of the day. We are pleased he club has come out and condemned it.
Regan added: “We can only work within the rules that we’ve got. We expected to go down a strict liability route two or three years ago now and that was defeated at the annual general meeting.
“We are about to start the rules revision process for 2016 and given the events of the weekend and obviously incidents of singing in previous weeks as well I think it will be back on the agenda for discussion. Quite how far it goes will depend on the members and the appetite for change.
“But certainly when you see what has happened at the weekend it makes you realise that we can’t continue accepting this as a matter of course because somebody is going to get injured.
“When you see the damage some of these flares can do, which the police have shown us, with the intensity of the heat when they come into contact with individuals, they are really, really life threatening.
“We can’t just stand back and allow it to go on. We need a grown-up conversation and we need to do something about it.
“Ultimately, the rules that we have in place at the moment don’t go as far as strict liability. The rules have unacceptable conduct within them and there is a range of sanctions open to any panel in the event that the club are found guilty.
“But given that, in many cases, it is not seen as serious enough to close stadiums or play matches behind closed doors, it’s likely that it would probably be a financial penalty.”
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