Old Firm derby could lead to ‘deluge’ of hate crime complaints by football fans

Police could be “deluged” with a torrent of hate crime complaints against football fans at Sunday’s Old Firm derby, it has been warned before the first weekend of fixtures since the SNP’s new laws came into force.

Murdo Fraser, a Conservative MSP, said that he “suspects” and “fears” Celtic and Rangers fans could submit complaints against each other amid public confusion around the laws.

He told STV News his concern was that the vast majority “will be motivated by fans’ enmity towards one another as opposed to any genuine concern that a crime has been committed”.

This would lead to few prosecutions, he predicted, but a huge amount of wasted police time as officers dealt with the torrent of complaints. Police Scotland has promised to investigate every complaint.

Humza Yousaf told the same programme that he had “every confidence” in the ability of officers to police Sunday’s match, arguing they were used to dealing with vexatious complaints.

His intervention came after Ally McCoist, a former Rangers player and manager who is now a football commentator and pundit, said that it was “guaranteed” thousands of the club’s fans would breach the legislation at Ibrox this weekend.

Insiders believe that the force has now received more than 6,000 complaints since the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act came into force on Monday. Police Scotland has said it is collating the figures.

Critics had predicted that the legislation would be “weaponised” by activists and a deluge of cases would tie up police officers for hours, preventing them investigating more serious crimes.

Concerns have also been expressed that the legislation’s definition of a hate crime is too ambiguous, potentially leading to a “chilling” effect on freedom of speech.

Mr Yousaf admitted on Thursday that he was “very, very concerned” by the number of “vexatious” complaints being lodged under the new law but said he was not surprised.

He had previously told Sky News on Monday that there was “absolutely no evidence” to support warnings there would be a large increase in the number of such hate complaints.

Mr Fraser, a Rangers fan, told STV News: “What this points to is the level of uncertainty there is about the reach of this law and the concerns that were expressed in the run-up to the law being enacted by the police, and … that the police would find themselves deluged by lots of spurious and vexatious complaints.

“I think there’s a real concern we are going to see that on the back of the Old Firm match this weekend just as we’ve seen it at the start of this week.”

He added: “I suspect very few, if any, will ever lead to prosecutions but police will need to spend their time looking into this matter when, in my view, they should be dealing with much more serious offences.”

Mr Yousaf said: “Police can deal with complaints. Those that are genuine and those on the other side that are vexatious … police have been able to deal [with] vexatious complaints.

“We know police have been able to police Old Firm matches and other football matches very well, very appropriately and proportionately over the years and I have every confidence they will be able to do that at this weekend’s Old Firm game.”

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “An appropriate policing plan is in place to maintain public safety and minimise any disruption to the community ahead of the fixture at Ibrox on Sunday, April 7 2024.

“Our response will balance the protection of human rights with upholding the law. We continue to work closely with a range of partners ahead of the match.”

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said that it “engages regularly with Police Scotland and football authorities on behaviour at football matches”.