A significant number of threatening and abusive emails sent to referee Kevin Clancy have been referred to Police Scotland following the weekend’s Celtic vs Rangers match.
The Scottish FA confirmed they contacted the force to deal with the matter after Clancy’s personal and professional contact details were leaked online following the 3-2 win for Celtic on Saturday.
The SFA says the official received “a series of unacceptable messages” over the holiday weekend.
Confirming that the body’s Referee Operations team have also been in contact with Rangers regarding their concerns following the game, the SFA stated their full support to Clancy and the wider referees community in a statement this afternoon.
Ian Maxwell, Scottish FA Chief Executive: “The nature of the messages goes way beyond criticism of performance and perceived decision-making - some are potentially criminal in nature and include threats and abuse towards Kevin and his family.
“We have referred the correspondence to the police and condemn this behaviour in the strongest possible terms, as well as the posting of a referee’s personal details online with the sole purpose of causing distress.
“Football is our national game. It improves and saves lives. Without referees, there is no game, and while decisions will always be debated with or without the use of VAR, we cannot allow a situation to develop where a referee’s privacy and safety, and those of his family, are compromised.
“We all have a responsibility to protect our game and those essential to it.”
Clancy came under fire in the aftermath of the game for controversially chopping off Alfredo Morelos' first-half goal at Parkhead.
The referee sounded his whistle around the 20th minute after he adjudged the Colombian to have fouled Celtic's Alistair Johnston inside the box.
The striker has just poked the ball into Celtic's net after getting on the end of a James Tavernier corner, and was about to begin celebrating after thinking he'd just given Rangers the lead.
However, Clancy felt the incident warranted a foul in Celtic's favour. VAR checked the situation, and Nick Walsh concurred with the on-field decision.
However, Celtic were “very, very lucky” not to fall behind to an Morelos goal on Saturday, according to former English top-flight referee Dermot Gallagher.
Reviewing the incident on Sky Sports, Gallagher said: “I think Celtic got very, very lucky. Both players are grappling. For me, best let it go.”
