Celtic’s Europa League opponents AIK have received confirmation of punishment from UEFA following crowd trouble at three recent European matches.
The Swedish champions have been billed a total of €102,500 for incidents at three separate Champions League matches – two away from home, and one at home.
In a lengthy statement released on their official website, they say they have been fined for a number of offences including “illicit chanting, throwing of objects, crowd disturbances and setting off fireworks.”
The vast majority of the punishment (€82,500) comes from the home clash against NK Maribor on July 31st.
UEFA have come down hard on AIK
The Swedes do seem to have a major problem with an element of their support. Last week, they had numerous skirmishes with Glasgow police both inside and outside of Celtic Park.
AIK took big numbers over to Scotland and the vast majority behaved well. However, there were a problem number who seemed more keen to cause trouble rather than enjoy the match. Given the way they acted it is no real surprise to find out that the club are being cited on two separate occasions for bad away fan behaviour already this season.
The Friends Arena is likely to be a very hostile place for the Celtic players to visit on Thursday night. It is crucial that they find a way to deal with the pressure in the early stages and not give the hosts any encouragement.
If we can come through the early stages of the match unscathed then we should be good enough to pick them off later in the encounter. Hopefully all of the Hoops fans over in Sweden can enjoy the game safely and peacefully.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
