Celtic goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo has called on Rangers and the football authorities to take more action after he was targeted by a barrage of missiles during last Sunday’s game at Ibrox.
Following the final derby of the season, Rangers vowed to identify and punish the individual who threw a glass bottle onto the park.
Sinisalo has revealed the full extent of the disorder throughout the game, however, by revealing he was struck on the leg by one object after being repeatedly targeted by thugs in the home support.
The Finn, who was experiencing his first taste of an Old Firm game, said: ‘I see some mention that there was a bottle thrown at me. But it wasn’t just a bottle, by the way.
‘First of all, I was hit with something. Not in my upper body, somewhere in my lower leg. It wasn’t a bottle, there was lighters, vapes, coins, mugs, all sorts flying.
‘When you think of it, let’s say that glass bottle that was on the pitch hits me or hits someone else, what happens then? What if it hits you in the eye and you can’t play football after that? What happens then? That’s the questions that we need answers for.
Viljami Sinisalo was targeted by some Rangers supporters during last weekend’s Ibrox clash
TV pictures showed glass bottles having to be removed from the field of play
Supporters of both clubs have been accused of throwing items on to the pitch this season
‘And I know it’s not the first time it’s happened. I was there when Arne (Engels) was hit with something. Greg (Taylor)’s been hit. Joe Hart’s been hit. Staff members have been hit.’
Unsure of what the object was which struck him, Sinisalo said: ‘My bottle was right by their fans. I’ve gone to have a drink and obviously (I’m) not facing them because I don’t know what’s happening, what’s getting thrown at me.
‘I don’t know. It wasn’t something big because it wasn’t a big impact or anything like that. I expect probably a vape or something.’
Three years ago, the same fixture was held up when fellow keeper Hart found broken glass in his goalmouth. A Rangers fan was later jailed for a year after hitting Celtic physio Danny Friel with a bottle.
Missiles have come from other areas of the ground. Engels was struck by a coin in January and last season a glass bottle was thrown at Matt O’Riley while coins were thrown into Celtic’s technical area.
Footage showed several missiles being thrown at Rangers players at Celtic Park in March as they celebrated Hamza Igamane’s late goal in the visitors’ 3-2 win.
‘I don’t know how people identify who it is because there’s a lot of people obviously throwing them,’ said Sinisalo.
‘I’m talking 30, 40 objects here, that was on the pitch. It’s not just one individual.
Rangers boss Barry Ferguson is confident the club will identify those responsible
Brendan Rodgers has stressed the importance of ensuring the safety of players in future
‘Listen, it’s not nice. No one wants it. I’m just trying to do my job. There’s not many jobs in the world where you get a bottle thrown at you.
‘I’d like to think something should be done, but that’s not for me to say what it is.’
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers believes Celtic’s rivals will do all they can to ensure there’s no repeat.
‘It’s clearly not nice to see and hopefully it can be addressed and hopefully players’ safety is of paramount (importance) and that can be looked at,’ he said.
‘I’m pretty sure Rangers as a football club will be looking at that. They don’t want to be associated with that type of behaviour. It’s not great, but they will deal with that I’m sure.’
Rodgers’ counterpart Barry Ferguson also condemned the behaviour.
‘You don’t want to see things like that happen,’ he said. ‘When bottles come on, that’s something that I don’t like to see. Obviously, the club are going to take action with it because it can harm a player, hurt a player.
‘I’ve seen it in the past with lighters or whatever. You want your supporters to come and support the team. But when you see objects like that getting thrown on, it’s not nice to see.’
