Lid Dems accuse SPFL of whitewash over sectarian abuse figures

The Scottish Government has been forced to publish previously secret information on sectarianism in football, according to the Lib Dems.

The party and anti-sectarianism campaigners Nil By Mouth asked ministers for correspondence with the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) on how it grades fan behaviour and any end-of-season reports.

After the Scottish Information Commissioner ruled the wrongly withheld'' information should be made available to the public, the Scottish Government had until August 28 to comply or lodge an appeal with the Court of Session.

The figures were published on Friday evening and suggest 6.5% of all SPFL matches in the review period featured apparent unacceptable conduct which has been reported to the SPFL and which has been considered by the SPFL on the face of the information available to it, as significant and material''.

The season under review, 2017/18, had 938 matches played and, of these, 256 were attended by an SPFL delegate with 197 incidents of level one/green level (unacceptable conduct not considered to be of such significant and material nature to warrant further action'').

There were also 59 level two/yellow incidents (unacceptable conduct considered to be of a significant and material nature; and it does not appear, prima facie from the match delegate report or other relevant sources of information'').

In comparison, the 2016/17 season had 936 matches, 265 attended by a delegate, 206 level one/green incidents and 59 level 2/yellow incidents.

However, neither season had a recorded level three/red incident, deemed unacceptable conduct considered to be of a significant and material nature; and it appears, prima facie from the match delegate report or other relevant sources of information''.

The figures were published with standard freedom of information redactions alongside case studies involving Celtic FC and a match between Falkirk FC and Motherwell FC.

A spokesman for the SPFL said: In a normal year, around five million fans attend SPFL matches each season and while it only takes one so-called 'supporter' to misbehave for it to register on these figures, that is still totally unacceptable.

Our clubs take enormous care and devote significant resources to educate those attending matches and work with them to encourage good behaviour in stadia, as the example of best practice from Celtic in this report clearly shows.

The vast, vast majority of Scottish football fans are well-behaved, passionate followers of their clubs.

Like us, they will endorse the most severe sanctions against the few idiots and troublemakers who are not welcome in SPFL grounds.''

According to the Lib Dems, the reports are usually compiled and shared with the Scottish Government on the condition they are not shared with the public.

Liam McArthur MSP said: The report claims every single club responded properly to every single incident of unacceptable conduct observed across two seasons. This model handling scarcely seems credible and has all the hallmarks of a whitewash.

Some matches where delegates observed sectarian chanting and comments have been designated the same green code as games where no unacceptable conduct was observed at all.

That indicates a tolerance of sectarianism that simply should not exist. This is not something that should be normalised. I will be taking this further at the Scottish Parliament next week.

This important decision proves we were right to call out the hush-hush agreement the SPFL struck with the Scottish Government to keep data on sectarianism at football games under wraps.

Sectarian behaviour at football matches continues to tarnish the sport's reputation and spoils the game for the vast majority of fans. There's no place for it in sport or in Scotland.

The fight for this information has been ongoing for 21 months now. The prevalence of this behaviour needs to be properly monitored and understood if we're to have any chance of stamping it out.

Nil by Mouth director Dave Scott also said: This is a welcome decision from the commissioner and a long overdue message to the SPFL that it has to be accountable to both Parliament and the wider public.

When millions of pounds of public money is flowing into the SPFL through cashback funding, the furlough scheme and gift aid from donations to its charitable trust it's breathtaking to think that the SPFL board felt it could stick two fingers up to Government ministers, MSPs and campaigners on this issue.

We will pass the report on to the Justice Committee next week to allow elected members to examine the detail.''

A Scottish Government spokesman said: This data was collated by the football authorities, not the Scottish Government.

Our clear and consistent preference from the outset has been for this data to be published and we made that clear to SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster.

It is only through open and honest discussion, based on robust evidence, that we can work with all of our partners to tackle the unacceptable conduct by a minority of supporters which, unfortunately, continues to shame our national game.''