Police have confirmed they are investigating 'hate mail' directed towards Kevin Clancy after the recent Celtic v Rangers clash.
The matter was reported by the Scottish Football Association (SFA) after the referee's personal details were published online following Saturday's Old Firm. The 39-year-old's performance came under criticism after disallowing an Alfredo Morelos goal for a push on Alistair Johnston with the game at 0-0, with Celtic going on to win 3-2 following the incident involving the Rangers forward.
Following the match the whistler had been subject to a vile outpouring of abuse, including alleged threats towards him and his family. The SFA confirmed on Monday it had reported the matter to police, with chief executive Ian Maxwell hitting out at Clancy's details being published online as "potentially criminal" abuse.
Chief executive Maxwell said: “The nature of the messages goes way beyond criticism of performance and perceived decision-making - some are potentially criminal in nature and include threats and abuse towards Kevin and his family. We have referred the correspondence to the police and condemn this behaviour in the strongest possible terms, as well as the posting of a referee’s personal details online with the sole purpose of causing distress.
“Football is our national game. It improves and saves lives. Without referees, there is no game, and while decisions will always be debated with or without the use of VAR, we cannot allow a situation to develop where a referee’s privacy and safety, and those of his family, are compromised.
“We all have a responsibility to protect our game and those essential to it.”
An SFA statement added: "The Scottish FA has referred a significant volume of threatening and abusive emails to Police Scotland after personal and professional contact details of Saturday’s Old Firm referee, Kevin Clancy, were published online following the derby match.
"The association’s security and integrity manager has been liaising with Kevin and Police Scotland following a series of unacceptable messages being sent via email and phone over the holiday weekend. We offer our full support to Kevin and reiterate our wider support to the referee community."
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "We are investigating alleged threatening communications which were reported to us by the SFA today. All reports of this nature are treated with the utmost seriousness and will be investigated thoroughly.
"We will provide support to those affected as our investigation progresses."
Meanwhile, the SFA also confirmed the Referee Operations team have responded to Rangers’ request for an explanation for an on-field decision involving Colombian forward Morelos.
Clancy has also been taken away from the spotlight and will not referee a top-level fixture this weekend, but instead he will be in charge of the VAR for Livingston v St Johnstone. He will provide video back-up and support for match official David Munro.
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