Celtic Uefa hearing to be held on same day as Man City clash

Celtic's disciplinary hearing with Uefa over their display of Palestinian flags in their Champions League qualifier versus Hapoel Be'er Sheva has been moved to next Wednesday.

Celtic supporters' display of Palestinian flags during their recent Champions League qualifier. Picture: John Devlin

Proceedings were launched against Celtic after their 5-2 win against the Israeli opposition at Celtic Park.

The Glasgow club was hit with ‘iilicit banner’ charges and was due to appear in front of the governing body today. However, it has now been rescheduled for Wednesday September 28, the same day they face Manchester City in the Champions League group stage.

If found guilty it will be the ninth time Celtic has been punished for supporter behaviour in the last five years.

In a similar incident two years ago, the club were fined £15,000 when Palestinian flags were on show during a Champions League qualifier against KR Reykjavik.

Under their rules, Uefa prohibits “gestures, words, objects or any other means to transmit any message that is not fit for a sports event, particularly messages that are of a political, ideological, religious, offensive or provocative nature”.

After the club were notified of the charges, their supporters raised over £170,000 for charitites in Palestine.

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