GLASGOW, Scotland — Celtic has condemned fans who targeted the club’s principal shareholder Dermot Desmond during the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Tennis balls, with images of Desmond’s face on them, were thrown onto the course as he competed in the golf tournament at St Andrews in Scotland on Saturday.
Celtic described the protest as a “significant and unacceptable escalation” and said it would indefinitely ban fans involved.
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It also said it would stop engaging with the supporter group Celtic Fans Collective.
“The Club will not be intimidated or coerced by organised acts of disruption,” the 56-time Scottish champion said in a statement. “Nor will decisions concerning the stewardship of Celtic Football Club be dictated by those prepared continually to escalate their behaviour in an attempt to exert pressure upon the Club, its employees, directors, shareholders or others associated with Celtic.”
Fans have staged various protests against the running of the club and last year a game was halted when tennis balls and oranges were thrown onto the pitch during a match against Dundee.
Celtic Fans Collective posted footage of the protest on social media.
“Dermot Desmond has essentially been allowed to run Celtic Football Club whilst using his wealth to hide from supporters and accountability. Fans took the chance today to send a message that this arrangement cannot continue,” the group posted on X.
Celtic said the incident had taken the dispute “beyond Celtic Park and beyond football, to the home of golf, and disrupted an internationally recognised sporting event” and “brought shame upon the name” of the club.
“The reputation of Celtic supporters belongs to the entire Celtic family. It does not belong to any self-appointed group, and no such group is entitled to diminish it in pursuit of its own agenda,” it said.
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