GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Fans invaded the field and clashed after Celtic beat Rangers in a penalty shootout in the Scottish Cup quarterfinals on Sunday.
Supporters from both teams ran down from the stands at Ibrox with flares thrown and several altercations before the situation was brought under control.
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Celtic's Julian Araujo, center left and Rangers' Nicolas Raskin clash, during the Scottish Cup quarterfinal soccer match between Rangers and Celtic, in Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday March 8, 2026. (Steve Welsh/PA via AP)
Celtic's Liam Scales and Rangers' Ryan Naderi, right, in action during the Scottish Cup quarterfinal soccer match between Rangers and Celtic, in Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday March 8, 2026. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)
Police officer and stewards force fans back after they invaded the pitch following a penalty shoot out after the Scottish Cup quarterfinal soccer match between Rangers and Celtic, in Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday March 8, 2026. (Steve Welsh/PA via AP)
Police officer and stewards force fans back after they invaded the pitch following a penalty shoot out after the Scottish Cup quarterfinal soccer match between Rangers and Celtic, in Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday March 8, 2026. (Steve Welsh/PA via AP)
Celtic won the shootout 4-2 to advance to the semifinals after the game ended 0-0. Tomas Cvancara's winning spot kick sparked wild celebrations from the away fans, with some running onto the field.
Hundreds of Rangers fans then followed on, with missiles thrown and police and stewards having to form a barrier to restore order.
“Nobody wants to see this in football,” Rangers manager Danny Rohl told Premier Sports.
“It’s unfortunate. Hopefully it doesn’t dilute the performance,” Celtic manager Martin O'Neill added.
The Scottish Football Association said it had launched an investigation into the incident.
“The Scottish FA condemns the behaviour from supporters entering the field of play," the governing body said in a statement, adding that "an investigation will be carried out immediately.”
The rivalry between Rangers and Celtic is among the fiercest in the sport, with the Glasgow giants long-dominating in Scottish soccer. But this season has seen Hearts lead the way in the Scottish league, leaving Rangers and Celtic playing catch-up.
“Old Firm games, they are explosive games. They always have been. That’s maybe one of the reasons why the derby is one of the best in the world," O'Neill said.
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Celtic's Julian Araujo, center left and Rangers' Nicolas Raskin clash, during the Scottish Cup quarterfinal soccer match between Rangers and Celtic, in Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday March 8, 2026. (Steve Welsh/PA via AP)
Celtic's Liam Scales and Rangers' Ryan Naderi, right, in action during the Scottish Cup quarterfinal soccer match between Rangers and Celtic, in Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday March 8, 2026. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)
Police officer and stewards force fans back after they invaded the pitch following a penalty shoot out after the Scottish Cup quarterfinal soccer match between Rangers and Celtic, in Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday March 8, 2026. (Steve Welsh/PA via AP)
Police officer and stewards force fans back after they invaded the pitch following a penalty shoot out after the Scottish Cup quarterfinal soccer match between Rangers and Celtic, in Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday March 8, 2026. (Steve Welsh/PA via AP)
LONDON (AP) — Former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams was accused in a London court Monday of being a leader in the Irish Republican Army responsible for three of the paramilitary group’s suspected bombings in England.
Adams is being sued in London's High Court for allegedly being directly responsible and complicit for decisions by the Provisional IRA to detonate bombs in England in 1973 and 1996.
“The defendant carefully draws a distinction between being a member of ‘the Army’ and being a member of Sinn Féin," attorney Anne Studd said. “That was a distinction without a difference.”
Studd represents three men wounded in the bombings.
The allegation against Adams is an old one, but this is the first time a court is being asked to decide if it's true.
Adams is one of the most influential figures of Northern Ireland ’s decades of conflict. He led the IRA-linked political party Sinn Féin between 1983 and 2018 and helped broker the 1998 Good Friday peace accord. He has always denied being an IRA member, though some former colleagues have said he was one of its leaders.
“The only thing that I am guilty of is being an Irish republican committed to ending British rule in our country and seeking to unite the people of Ireland on the basis of freedom, equality, peace and solidarity,” Adams said after the opening day of the trial.
The claimants are seeking vindication — not money. Adams is being sued for the nominal sum of 1 pound ($1.33).
The trio claims Adams was a member of the IRA's decision-making Army Council and was as responsible as the men who planted the explosives during “the Troubles,” the three decades of violence involving Irish republican and British loyalist militants and U.K. soldiers. Some 3,600 people were killed, most in Northern Ireland, though the IRA also set off bombs in England.
John Clark, a police officer, had shrapnel lodged in his head and hand from the 1973 Old Bailey courthouse bombing in London. Jonathan Ganesh suffered psychologically from the 1996 London Docklands bombing. Barry Laycock was left 50% disabled, suffered emotionally and struggled financially from the 1996 Arndale shopping center bombing in Manchester.
“There is no doubt that the defendant contributed to the peace in Northern Ireland, but the claimants say that on the evidence, he also contributed to the war,” Studd said.
Adams, who is expected to testify in his defense during the nonjury trial due to conclude next week, “emphatically, unequivocally and categorically denies that he was ever a member of the IRA,” attorney Edward Craven said.
Adams was never charged with the bombings or even arrested on suspicion of being connected to them, Craven said.
The 77-year-old was charged with being an IRA member in 1978, but the case was later dropped because of a lack of evidence.
Adams won a 100,000 ($116,000) libel verdict last year against the BBC over a claim in a television documentary that he authorized the killing of an informant inside the Irish republican movement.
Craven said the claimants had a mountain to climb to prove their case and they had not even arrived at the foothills.
He said that Adams sympathized with and shared the IRA’s goals and sought to justify their actions, though he didn't support all those acts.
“That makes him, in the eyes of some people, a deeply controversial figure,” Craven said. "It does not mean he was factually responsible for the bombings.”
Claimant Barry Laycock poses for a photo outside the Royal Courts of Justice, where a civil claim is being brought against former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams by three men who were injured in Provisional IRA bombings on the UK mainland in the 1970s and 1990s, in London, Monday March 9, 2026. (James Manning/PA via AP)
Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, center, arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice, where a civil claim is being brought against him, in London, Monday March 9, 2026. ( James Manning/PA via AP)
Claimant Barry Laycock poses for a photo outside the Royal Courts of Justice, where a civil claim is being brought against former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams by three men who were injured in Provisional IRA bombings on the UK mainland in the 1970s and 1990s, in London, Monday March 9, 2026. (James Manning/PA via AP)
Former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice, where a civil claim is being brought against him, in London, Monday March 9, 2026. ( James Manning/PA via AP)
