Sledging Sammy’s Asbo shame

JUST how should a football mascot be punished for over-exuberance? A scale of tariffs cannot be far off, judging by the reprimand dished out by Dunfermline Athletic bosses to Sammy the Tammy. His crime was to sledge down a flight of stairs in tribute to Amy Williams’ gold medal-winning performance in the skeleton bob at the Winter Olympics.

Sammy sped down the stairs on a red plastic sledge at the club’s home ground while the First Division team went down to a 1-0 defeat against Ayr United. Perhaps the officials should have been wagging their fingers at the players, rather than at the team mascot.

Mascot Asbos are becoming more common. At Swansea City, Cyril the Swan was fined 1,000 for tearing the head off Millwall mascot Zampa the Lion, an act some would regard as a public duty. And St Mirren’s Paisley Panda has received a police caution after taunting rival Morton fans over their aversion to soap. It seems the worrying corrosion of conduct standards on the pitch is getting to the mascots. The next step has surely to be the tagging of persistent offenders, and community service in reflector jackets till they have seen the error of their exuberant ways. If problems persist, mascots may be stripped of their club regalia and reduced to supplying the team manager with sticks of chewing gum every five minutes. Those who still offend get to be a spittoon.