UEFA have, in stark contrast to both the SFA and the SPFL, not been slow to punish clubs whose supporters have set off pyrotechnics in the stands during their competitions’ matches over the years.
European football’s governing body issues fines on a regular basis if fans have lit flares, smoke bombs or strobes before, during and after Conference League, Europa League and Champions League fixtures.
Celtic have suffered more than most from their readiness to dole out financial penalties – the bill for £16,700 they were hit with back in October due to the conduct of a few of their followers in the Westfalenstadion in Germany at the start of that month was far from the first.
However, the regular raps on the knuckles which UEFA have administered to the Scottish champions have had no discernible impact on the behaviour of the hardcore element who watch them play home and away.
And why would they? Their latest financial results showed they had £77.2m sitting in the bank when they were released back in September. So having to shell out a paltry five figure sum is not going to inconvenience the Parkhead club greatly.
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Not having any away supporters inside a stadium when they play an important away fixture against continental opposition, though, very much will.
And that is what will happen if the ultras groups who are largely responsible for pyro being used inside grounds ignore the suspended one match ban which UEFA hit them with following their encounter with Borussia Dortmund when their side take to the pitch tomorrow evening.
The threat of being prevented from cheering on Callum McGregor and his team mates on foreign fields had the desired impact in their league phase match against Atalanta in Italy.
The game against the Europa League champions in the Gewiss Stadium - which Celtic drew 0-0 to erase the memory of the 7-1 mauling they had suffered at the hands of Dortmund a fortnight earlier - passed off without any major off-field incidents.
That match, however, took place just six days after the UEFA control, ethics and disciplinary body had decided to take action over the “lighting or fireworks”. The sanction was still fresh in their fans’ minds.
The SFA and the SPFL will certainly be paying close attention to what happens during a game in the Maksimir Stadium which will have huge ramifications for the visitors’ European ambitions.
Their hands are very much tied when it comes to dealing with supporter unrest due to clubs overwhelmingly rejecting the adoption of strict liability at the SFA AGM back in 2013.
They are unable to take action if suitable safeguards have been put in place by clubs before matches where trouble flares and appropriate action is taken against the offenders afterwards.
Neil Doncaster, the SPFL chief executive, is not a proponent of strict liability despite the missiles which are regularly thrown at players and officials during William Hill Premiership and Premier Sports Cups games and the sectarian singing which pollutes the atmospheres inside grounds at them. He has repeatedly argued that it is ineffective.
"Some see it as the answer to unacceptable conduct,” he said back in 2022. “But if you look at the experience that UEFA have with European competition, it's clear that strict liability doesn't work. I've never seen any examples of it working anywhere throughout the world."
Doncaster has a valid point to a large degree. The fines which UEFA have doled out have certainly not persuaded the supporters of Scottish clubs to leave their Cobra 6 firecrackers and balaclavas in their hotel rooms.
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But the threat of a ban just might work. It certainly seems to have had the desired effect so far. The Atalanta, RB Leipzig and Club Brugge games were pyro-free. If there are no incidents in Zagreb it will show that it is the way for the authorities here to tackle what is a highly dangerous practice as well as a growing and concerning problem.
The SPFL last week charged Celtic, Motherwell and Rangers with breaching Rule H34 following the “large-scale, organised and illegal pyrotechnics displays which were carried out by a small minority of supporters” before the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals at Hampden last month.
The Scottish government revealed last month that a task force which has been set up to look at this issue is considering “extending the reach” of football banning orders. Identifying the culprits and preventing them from watching their team play would send out a far stronger message.
Threatening to close stands entirely for showpiece fixtures would go even further still. Some would say that it is unfair to penalise ordinary punters for the actions of a handful of halfwits. But desperate times require drastic measures.
Last season a young Dundee fan was scarred for life and a Celtic supporter had his head set on fire when flares were discarded carelessly. A lower league player in Belgium lost three fingers when a device with the power of a hand grenade exploded in his hand in October.
A member of the Bhoys Celtic ultras group set off a strobe in the Jock Stein Stand at Parkhead before kick-off in the Premiership match against Hibernian on Saturday afternoon.
It will just take one idiot to spoil things for thousands in Zagreb tomorrow evening.
