CELTIC have been charged by the SPFL following the pyrotechnic display by fans before the Premier Sports League Cup semi-final against Aberdeen at Hampden last month.
The Hoops fans have been accused of holding up the kick-off for 14 minutes as smoke swirled around the stadium and made visibility difficult.
Once the last-four encounter got underway, Brendan Rodgers’ side romped to a 6-0 triumph with a hat-trick from Daizen Maeda and additional strikes from Cameron Carter-Vickers, Kyogo Furuhashi and Nicolas Kuhn.
The Parkhead men now face Rangers in the showpiece showdown at the same venue a week on Sunday.
Phillipe Clement’s club and Motherwell were also hit by an identical accusation by the SPFL after a similar incident before their semi-final.
An official statement read: The SPFL can today confirm Celtic, Motherwell and Rangers have been charged with a breach of SPFL rules following the behaviour of their supporters at the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals.
It was fantastic to have over 80,000 supporters attend last month’s semi-finals, however, the large-scale, organised and illegal pyrotechnics displays which were carried out by a small minority of supporters before the Celtic v Aberdeen and Motherwell v Rangers matches were totally unacceptable.
This irresponsible behaviour by a minority of fans led to a 14 minute delay to Celtic v Aberdeen, a 5 minute delay to Motherwell v Rangers and caused significant inconvenience to thousands of fans at the game and to supporters watching worldwide.
The SPFL, Scottish FA, Police Scotland and other organisations have been clear that such use of pyrotechnics is illegal and poses clear dangers and health and safety risks to fellow supporters, players and those working at matches.
There have been a number of complaints from supporters about these incidents and the SPFL and Scottish FA have been in ongoing discussions with the clubs involved in the weeks since the semi-finals.
The SPFL can now confirm that Celtic, Motherwell and Rangers have all been issued with formal notices of complaint under SPFL Rule H34 and each club will face a disciplinary hearing.
Preparations are ongoing ahead of the Premier Sports Cup Final between Celtic and Rangers at Hampden Park next week, as the SPFL prepares to welcome a capacity crowd for one of the highlights of the Scottish sporting calendar.
The SPFL and Scottish FA will continue to work closely with the finalists in the build up to this showpiece occasion to reinforce the importance of ensuring a safe and enjoyable match day experience for all supporters, in the context of what is now an ongoing disciplinary process.
