COPS have confirmed a complaint is being assessed after Celtic ultras sparked fury with a banner honouring an IRA bomber.
A display paid tribute to convicted bomber Brendan ‘Bik’ McFarlane who died on Friday aged 74.
Celtic ultras unfurled the banners before the clash with Aberdeen[/caption]
Brendan McFarlane died on Friday[/caption]
McFarlane was jailed in 1976 for his part in a gun and bomb attack on Bayardo Bar in the Protestant Shankhill Road area of Belfast the previous year.
Aged 23, he and two others carried out a bomb and gun attack on the pub they suspected of being used by UVF members.
The attack killed five people, with two civilians gunned to death outside the pub and three more people dying as a result of the following explosion.
McFarlane was sent to HM Prison Maze, where he was in command of H-block prisoners during the hunger strike of 1981.
McFarlane also took part in the biggest escape in British prison history in 1983.
One of 38 IRA inmates to flee, he was eventually recaptured in the Netherlands.
During a minute’s applause for former the late Celtic goalkeeper Evan Williams before the match against Aberdeen, ultras group the Green Brigade unfurled a banner paying tribute to McFarlane.
The sick display took the form of a tifo, which read: “They said he was a rebel then. He’s a hero now.”
A following line in Gaelic translated as: “May his soul be seated on God’s right hand.”
In between the two lines was a banner containing an image of McFarlane.
The banner sparked outraged, with a number of fans calling it out.
One furious fan said: “Absolutely vile support for terrorism.”
DUP politician Philip Brett has also written to Celtic, the Scottish FA and Uefa, while he also called Police Scotland to take action under the Terrorism Act.
The police have now confirmed to the Scottish Sun that a complaint has been received in relation to the banner.
Cops are now investigating the matter.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “A complaint has been received which is being assessed by officers.”
At last night’s Premiership match between Kilmarnock and Rangers, Gers ultras displayed a banner of their own.
Hitting back at the Celtic ultras’ display, the Rangers group’s banner said: “He was a coward then and he’s a coward now.
“Rot in hell Brendan McFarlane.”
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