Motherwell v Celtic on 13 May is one of four SPFL fixtures now under disciplinary investigation, after spectators entered the pitch following late goals at Fir Park and again when Celtic hosted Hearts on 16 May.
The league said two Celtic games are among five being investigated, with the other matches involving Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Hamilton Academical and Stenhousemuir. The focus has widened from the flashpoint moments themselves to what happened after them, when fans got on the field in games that still carried major stakes at the top and bottom of the Scottish game.
The latest strand to the Motherwell case comes from the KMI panel, which found by a majority of two to one that the penalty awarded to Celtic was incorrect. Referee John Beaton pointed to the spot after a VAR review, and Kelechi Iheanacho converted deep into added time to give Celtic a 3-2 win that kept them within one point of then leaders Hearts.
That decision turned on a handball against Sam Nicholson when he leapt with Celtic defender Auston Trusty. The panel said two members felt VAR was wrong to intervene and that the penalty was incorrectly awarded after the on-field review, while one member said VAR was right to intervene and that a penalty should have been given. The sequence mattered because Celtic’s late victory helped them close the season strongly before they went on to win their final two league fixtures and retain the title.
The Hearts match carried its own weight. On the final weekend of the Premiership season, Hearts beat Celtic 3-1 and moved two points above their visitors, before Celtic finished the job in the title race days later. Celtic manager Martin O'Neill said any allegation that visiting players were assaulted amid the pitch invasion has not been proved, after shareholder Tony Bloom claimed on Wednesday that Hearts players were assaulted by Celtic supporters as they ran on to the field.
Police Scotland are investigating whether there was any criminality involved in the Hearts pitch invasion. The SPFL has said it has dealt with similar incidents in recent seasons involving objects thrown at players or staff, orchestrated pyrotechnics and mass pitch incursions, and in 2025-26 it concluded 11 disciplinary processes against eight clubs for such incidents.
The wider probe also includes Inverness Caledonian Thistle’s League 1 match with Hamilton on 2 May, Hamilton’s play-off second-leg win over Clyde on 15 May, and Stenhousemuir’s Championship play-off second-leg defeat by Alloa Athletic on 16 May. There were spectators on the pitch after each of those games as well, with Hamilton and Stenny both winning their ties on aggregate in the end and Inverness clinching the League 1 title and promotion on the final weekend of the regular season. The question now is not whether the incidents were messy, but how far the league and police decide to push them, given that the pitch invasions came in matches with promotion, survival and the championship all at stake.
