Martin O'Neill said allegations that Hearts players were assaulted amid Saturday's pitch invasion at Celtic Park have not been proved, as the row over Celtic's title-clinching win intensified on Wednesday.
Tony Bloom had claimed earlier that Hearts players were assaulted by Celtic fans as they ran on to the pitch to celebrate sealing the Scottish Premiership title. Bloom said the final whistle had not gone when supporters spilled on to the field and that the Hearts players were in danger, adding that one or two were assaulted. Police Scotland are investigating whether any criminality was involved.
The dispute centres on what happened after Celtic beat Hearts 3-1 on Saturday. Hearts players were confronted by some fans after Callum Osmand scored in the 98th minute to make it 3-1, and the club said referee Don Robertson signalled for full-time despite there appearing to be 30 seconds left of the eight minutes of stoppage time when the ball crossed the line.
Celtic apologised to Hearts earlier this week after the visitors were forced to make a quick exit from the stadium while still in their kit. On Wednesday, Hearts said O'Neill's public comments were highly irresponsible and that they carried dangerous implications. The club urged the football authorities to address the matter with full cooperation, and said it had written to the SPFL and Scottish FA expressing concern that a troubling precedent had been set whereby a pitch invasion can effectively determine the duration of a match.
O'Neill said he had seen no sign of the alleged assault in pictures reviewed by Celtic. He said the claim had not been proved, but added that if Bloom or police had seen evidence then apologies would be due. Bloom, for his part, said the behaviour was completely unacceptable and insisted the authorities would be looking at it.
The exchange has turned a celebration into a disciplinary and legal question, with the key issue now whether any assault took place and whether the match ended before the full stoppage time had expired. That is the point both clubs, and Police Scotland, are now being pushed to confront.
