Soccer

Celtic fans get green light to attend Champions League tie at Bayern Munich

The Hoops were facing a suspended ban but have escaped with a fine from UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body.

Celtic fans have been given the green light to travel to Munich
Celtic fans have been given the green light to travel to Munich (Jane Barlow/PA)

Celtic fans will be able to attend the Champions League clash against Bayern Munich in Germany after being handed a UEFA reprieve.

The Scottish champions were on a suspended ban on away supporters when they were hit with a disciplinary notice after a green smoke canister was thrown from among the visiting fans during Celtic’s 4-2 defeat at Villa Park last month.

However, they have escaped with a fine following a decision from UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body.

The club have received a fine of 10,000 euros (£8,340) for the lighting of fireworks and throwing of objects.

Celtic had received double the fine and a one-match ban on selling tickets for travelling fans – which was suspended for two years – after a major pyrotechnic display in their Champions League encounter with Borussia Dortmund in September.

They warned supporters after the latest disciplinary notice that there was a risk of an away fans ban in the second leg of their knockout stage play-off tie at the Allianz Arena on February 18 but promised to make “robust representations to UEFA”.

Celtic confirmed that supporters would be able to attend the game in Munich.

Celtic supporters can travel to Munich
Celtic supporters can travel to Munich (Andrew Milligan/PA)

A club statement added: “As we had said previously, Celtic made every effort to ensure that our fans could attend this match, and we are pleased that UEFA has considered our detailed submission.

“We can also confirm that the original suspended sentence remains in place, as a result of the previous use of pyrotechnics, most recently at the match against Borussia Dortmund, by a small minority of supporters.

“Again we must make it very clear that pyrotechnics have absolutely no place at our matches and should further incidents occur, then clearly, once again, there is an extremely high risk of our supporters not being permitted access to future matches.”