Rangers fans will be interested to know there wasn’t a justice minister or clinical director in sight as Ajax fans breached lockdown rules to cheer on their team.
The Dutch club’s supporters turned out in their numbers with smoke bombs and flares ahead of the club’s eventual 3-0 Europa League win over BSC Young Boys, breaching lockdown rules in the process – and not for the first time.
With Amsterdam a host city for this summer’s Euro 2020 transnational tournament, one wonders if UEFA were watching?
After all, that’s what justice minister Humza Yousaf and clinical director Jason Leitch suggested when Rangers fans celebrated the club’s historic 55th title win in Glasgow.
With pressure mounting on the government to find a way to get fans into Hampden for the games, these two government spokespeople appeared to put much of the responsibility on Gers fans to make it happen.
UEFA is “watching” Yousaf told Clyde One via Glasgow Times, “they want a safe tournament and this could really put that tournament coming to Scotland into jeopardy and we just do not want that”.
But after UEFA moved quickly to distance themselves from the comments, these two now look rather foolish in the eyes of anyone watching the fall-out.
On top of that Rangers supporters, there has been no tweet from the office of Dutch justice minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus regarding the gathering of Ajax fans.
Similarly, the nation’s health secretary, Martin van Rijn, is yet to claim that UEFA might take host city status from Amsterdam if fans continue to misbehave.
Imagine that.
Which begs the question – why did these two try and suggest that Rangers fan behaviour could have the Euros pulled, pitting the fans’ celebrations against every other Scotland supporter in the country?
It was an unnecessary, divisive and ultimately inaccurate and misleading line from two of the most senior and public individuals in this current government, and it has yet to be apologised for.
Rangers even pointed it out in Douglas Park’s letter to first minister Nicola Sturgeon [read it in full HERE].
It couldn’t be anything to do with the fact they’re scrambling to get fans into Hampden this summer and this seemed like an opportune and convenient excuse?
Nah, that’s far too cynical.
Rangers fans applauded chairman Douglas Park for his response the Scottish government’s criticism of the club and supporters following the celebrations.
