Brendan Rodgers says it would be “bitterly disappointing” if “genuine” Celtic fans are forced to miss out on their trip to Munich over continued pyro use by a minority.
The Hoops could have no supporters in the Allianz Arena when they make the trip to Germany for the Champions League playoff tie after UEFA handed them a new disciplinary notice following an incident at Villa Park on Wednesday.
A smoke bomb was thrown onto the pitch after Celtic scored their first against the English Premier in Birmingham.
They had already been sanctioned earlier in the campaign for a similar incident in Dortmund. They were fined £17,000 and handed a suspended ban on selling away tickets for future games if they fell foul of the governing body’s laws again in a two-year period.
The recent incident raises the very real possibility that fans of the Scottish champions will be locked out of their next game on the road, which will be against Bayern Munich next month.
Celtic issued a statement on Friday warning fans that a ban could be incoming.
And Rodgers says he has every sympathy with fans who follow the club around Europe every season that they are now at risk of missing such a prestigious game over the actions of a minority who he insists are there “for other reasons”.
Speaking to the media as they prepare for a return to league action this weekend, he said: “If that is the case, then I will be bitterly disappointed for every genuine Celtic fan. Clearly, that’s not been decided yet, but it’s serious enough for the club to put that statement out.
“For those Celtic supporters that are genuinely bonded with their club and have travelled near and far over many years, to even be at the risk of not going tells you the culmination of events that have taken us to that point.
“That’s where I sit on it. I really hope it’s not the case for the genuine Celtic supporter who loves the club and has gone to games all over the world.
“But let’s see what comes of it.
“There are lots of things in the modern game around behaviour and social behaviours that I really hope football can be the beacon of change.
“We would never want to get to a point where we go to a game of such magnitude and we can’t take our support or have the opportunity for them to come.
“I would hope it wouldn’t, but if it takes something like that then it has to change.
“The football club can’t keep paying hundreds of thousands worth of fines.
“Celtic are what we are because of the supporters, those genuine supporters. We aren’t a club that has money pouring in from all angles, sponsorships and tv deals and everything else, we are where we are because of the organisation of the club and support who give what they give.
“The club will always fight for the supporters, and that’s what they will do, I haven’t spoken to anyone regarding that today but the club has always fought to represent the support base.
“It has been a catalogue of events that has led to this and I find it hard to fathom, that’s why I differentiate between genuine Celtic fans and someone who is there for a different reason.
“Our support base is absolutely incredible, what they give to the game and the atmosphere that we create so I really hope that we don’t have this sanction brought upon us for this game, and hopefully then being so close to that will help us stamp it out going forward.”
The Premiership league leaders will take part in the knockout stages of Europe’s top competition for the first time in 12 years following three wins, three draws and two defeats from their eight league stage games.
They will now face heavyweight opponents in the shape of Bundesliga leaders and six-time European champions Bayern Munich.
On the draw, Rodgers joked: “We got the easier one, didn’t we?”
The manager continued: “It’s brilliant. We earned our place in the playoff stage. The players have been outstanding over the eight games and that qualifies us to play one of these top teams, so we will look forward to that when it comes.
“I think that has been the beauty of the competition; there are obviously pros and cons to it, but it was so dynamic, people will say, ‘if you had one point more, you might have done this’ or whatever, but it was so fluid and dynamic right until the very end.
“The ultimate objective for us was to qualify and wherever that leads you, you are always going to play against a very good team so we will look forward to that.
“We have played Bayern Munich before in my time here, it was a really good game at home and we played really well, so when that comes we will be really excited by the opportunity and give everything we have over the two legs.”
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