Brendan Rodgers has broken his silence on Celtic’s decision to ban the Green Brigade following their pro-Palestine display earlier this month. Over 250 supporters have seen their season tickets suspended as a result, with the club feeling that their values were compromised and firm action was required.
Celtic are 12 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership, having won 11 of their opening 13 matches. However, their impressive performances have been overshadowed by off-field matters in recent weeks.
The Green Brigade has aligned themselves with Palestine since Hamas’ invasion of Israel, with the organisation conducting a display of support during their side’s Champions League victory over Atletico Madrid – which prompted UEFA to intervene and hand the club a £15,250 fine.
Celtic have since taken matters into their own hands and have banned the group, and Rodgers has addressed questions about why such action was taken. Speaking ahead of his side’s match against Motherwell this weekend, the ex-Liverpool boss said: “It’s all about values.
“It’s the bigger picture, the values of this club, which are all about respect, integrity and everything else. That far outreaches anything else, and if those values are compromised in any way, then we the club will look at that.
“If someone, or people, are deemed to have misbehaved, you just can’t go along and accept that just because it makes the atmosphere better. We all live to certain values, and I hope we can find a solution to it because, as I said, I think the fans have created a really good atmosphere.
“My own personal view is that it’s not a political arena. Football is football, and you come to support the team and enjoy the team playing. Especially when we play like we did against Aberdeen, and we are scoring. Hopefully, we can get a resolution to that, but in the meantime, we will continue to do what we are doing, which is just staying very focused.”
Rodgers then admitted that the atmosphere at Celtic Park has taken a hit since the bans were put in place but was keen to emphasise that the players remain focused on retaining their domestic unbeaten record this season and stretching their lead at the top of the table, labelling the row with the Green Brigade a ‘little side issue’ that he hopes will be resolved as soon as possible.
