Celtic could refuse their ticket allocation to Ibrox for their league meeting against Rangers in December if the Ibrox side cannot guarantee the safety of the Parkhead support.
Rangers announced a decision this summer that they would slash the allocation of tickets available to the Celtic support to 800 as opposed to the traditional 7000 that was their usual number. Celtic responded in kind with Rangers bringing fewer than 800 fans to the opening derby game of the season at Celtic Park.
The reduction in the numbers attending the game contributed to a different method of policing the support in and out of the stadium, with reports of a crush among the Celtic support at the Janefield corridor.
And if there are any indications regarding crowd safety, Celtic could refuse to accept their tickets for the festive fixture.
“We’ve looked at the possibility of declining our allocation and that’s still a possibility,” said Lawwell. “It’s something we’ll decide in conjunction with our supporters.
“It’s possible that we would recommend to the fans that we don’t take any tickets for that match; I wouldn’t discount that. Indeed, should we feel that it isn’t a safe environment for our supporters we will definitely recommend that we don’t take any.”
“We have consulted with our supporters’ groups and they told us they wanted to take the 800 tickets for Ibrox. We’ve also consulted with Rangers’ safety people.
“All fans will come here and then travel on buses to the game, returning here afterwards. We intend to get them back safely.
“The safety of our fans in the No.1 priority.”
And Lawwell revealed that Celtic considered maintained Rangers’ full allocation for the September game to preserve the atmosphere of the game.
“Initially, we did think about being above it all and providing Rangers with their full allocation for the game at Celtic Park in September,” he said.
“However, we had to factor in the sporting advantage argument as to whether that would provide Rangers with an edge and, reluctantly – because it does detract from the spectacle – we chose to follow suit.”
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