The Ibrox club feared 'risk' supporters had bought tickets for Sunday's SWPL match.
Saturday 17 February 2024 12:37, UK
Rangers have cancelled all tickets bought by Celtic fans for Sunday's Scottish Women's Premier League Old Firm match at Ibrox Stadium.
Around 700 Hoops supporters were expected to attend the top-of-the-table clash, but the away allocation has now been scrapped amid security concerns.
The Ibrox club could have added a police presence inside the stadium but opted against that move.
Rangers are four points ahead of their rivals in the SWPL with the fixture to be played in Govan, rather than the women's home of Broadwood, for the first time.
A club statement said: "Rangers called an urgent operational meeting between both clubs and Police Scotland, with Police Scotland indicating they would need to deploy a sizeable resource at short notice as opposed to it initially being a police-free fixture.
"Rangers is committed to ensuring there are away supporters at our matches for both our men's and women's teams. However, a unique selling point of the women's game is the unsegregated, family-friendly atmosphere, with many children attending these matches.
"Taking all of that into account, Rangers' security team decided it would be unsafe to allow these 'risk' supporters into the stadium, and with Celtic unwilling to cancel just their tickets, the decision to cancel all tickets was taken.
"Rangers have informed Celtic, the SWPL and Police Scotland of our decision."
A Celtic statement said: "At a time when so many are working so hard to promote and support the women's game in Scotland, the decision to deny access to so many fans is hugely disappointing, even more so given that there were a number of options available to the home club to allow our fans to safely attend in a stadium of such capacity and given the expected crowd.
"Celtic will liaise with the home club regarding refunds for all tickets and will communicate to our supporters who had purchased tickets as soon as possible."
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