THE prospect of Celtic being forced to play future Champions League home ties in a partially-closed Parkhead could become a reality after a supporter invaded the pitch and attempted to kick Kylian Mbappe during the 5-0 home loss to Paris Saint-Germain.
Uefa confirmed yesterday that it had opened disciplinary proceedings against the club over the incident where a fan raced from behind a goal to confront Mbappe as during the second half of Tuesday night's Group B encounter. The Parkhead side have been charged with a count of “field invasion” and will have their case heard by the Uefa control, ethics and disciplinary body on 19 October, a statement from the European governing body said.
While the high profile incident looked bad enough in isolation, even more worrying for the Parkhead side is the fact that it is only the latest in a series of 12 Uefa penalties which have cost the club more than £160,000 over the last six years. The last came as recently as July, when Celtic were charged £20,600 after an "illicit banner" was displayed during their qualifying win over Linfield at Celtic Park, an episode which led to the club announcing a two-game closure of the area of the stadium generally occupied by the Green Brigade supporters' group. In addition to a fine of £8,950, the Belfast side were ordered to play their next Uefa match in a partially-closed Windsor Park after trouble in the first leg of that tie which included missiles being thrown and a fan invading the pitch in an attempt to confront Leigh Griffiths.
A 21-year-old Celtic fan from Belfast called John Hatton yesterday admitted assaulting Mbappe by attempting to kick him, and also pleaded guilty to behaviour likely to incite public disorder. He was granted bail and sentence was deferred until 11 October for background reports. Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers said he was pleased the rest of the sell-out crowd booed the intruder.
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