Scottish Soccer Game Tribute for Queen Interrupted by Anti-Royal Chant
‘CLAP YOUR HANDS’
Fans of Scottish soccer team Celtic caused a global stir Sunday after supporters chanted slogans in protest of the queen during a minute’s applause in memory of the monarch, including, “If you hate the royal family, clap your hands.” The game against St. Mirren, in Paisley, Scotland, also saw a banner with the same slogan. The incident follows days of derogatory slurs from fans surrounding the royal family as disruptions to tributes plagued the Scottish Premiership fixtures. In the lead-up to the game, Celtic’s manager, Ange Postecoglou, had called on fans to respect the tribute after a game on Wednesday in Poland saw supporters display a banner reading “Fuck the Crown.” Disciplinary proceedings against the team were undertaken after the match and Postecoglou said it would accept any punishment if wrongdoing was proven. Postecoglou said before the latest game that “we will abide by whatever obligations and responsibilities we have as a football club. We will do that in a respectful manner. We want our supporters to do the same.” Yet when probed on the chants after Sunday’s game, Postecoglou took a different tone: “I addressed all that in two press conferences, I’m not going to do it in three. I get why the interest is there, but I’m a manager at a football club, and I sit at press conferences wanting to talk about football. We addressed that matter, we did everything we needed to do, it’s time we moved on.”