GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Celtic has condemned fans who targeted the club's principal shareholder Dermot Desmond during the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Tennis balls, with images of Desmond's face on them, were thrown onto the course as he competed in the golf tournament at St Andrews in Scotland on Saturday.
Celtic described the protest as a “significant and unacceptable escalation” and said it would indefinitely ban fans involved.
It also said it would stop engaging with the supporter group Celtic Fans Collective.
“The Club will not be intimidated or coerced by organised acts of disruption,” the 56-time Scottish champion said in a statement. “Nor will decisions concerning the stewardship of Celtic Football Club be dictated by those prepared continually to escalate their behaviour in an attempt to exert pressure upon the Club, its employees, directors, shareholders or others associated with Celtic.”
Fans have staged various protests against the running of the club and last year a game was halted when tennis balls and oranges were thrown onto the pitch during a match against Dundee.
Celtic Fans Collective posted footage of the protest on social media.
“Dermot Desmond has essentially been allowed to run Celtic Football Club whilst using his wealth to hide from supporters and accountability. Fans took the chance today to send a message that this arrangement cannot continue,” the group posted on X.
Celtic said the incident had taken the dispute “beyond Celtic Park and beyond football, to the home of golf, and disrupted an internationally recognised sporting event” and “brought shame upon the name" of the club.
“The reputation of Celtic supporters belongs to the entire Celtic family. It does not belong to any self-appointed group, and no such group is entitled to diminish it in pursuit of its own agenda,” it said.
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Dermot Desmond tees off the 18th on day three of the Dunhill Links Golf Championship in St Andrews, Scotland, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. (Steve Welsh/PA via AP)
Dermot Desmond on day three of the Dunhill Links Golf Championship in St Andrews, Scotland, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. (Steve Welsh/PA via AP)
An Israeli strike has killed at least one person in the Gaza Strip as Palestinians continue reporting a surge in Israeli strikes across the enclave. Meanwhile, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels said airstrikes hit the war-torn country's capital at midnight as its renewed war against Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government escalates.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Friday. Full coverage is available here.
An Israeli strike Sunday morning on a civilian vehicle killed one Palestinian and wounded at least 11 others, according to health officials at the Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the casualties were taken.
Israel’s military said it targeted a known Hamas militant in the strike.
Palestinians in Gaza have reported a surge in Israeli fire and airstrikes across the enclave over the past month. Israel says it is targeting Hamas and other militants who pose a threat, and in response to ceasefire violations, including occasional attacks.
Israeli strikes have killed at least 1,445 Palestinians in Gaza since a ceasefire was reached with the Hamas militant group nearly a year ago, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. Its figures are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. It doesn’t give a breakdown of civilians and militants. Seven Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire.
The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said airstrikes hit the capital, Sanaa, at midnight amid their renewed war against Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government.
The Houthi media office reported the strikes without giving further details. It accused Saudi Arabia of launching the strikes, but didn’t offer evidence and there was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia.
However, the Yemeni military, which is backed by Riyadh, claimed responsibility for the strikes.
Yemeni military spokesman Col. Majed al-Nazili said it struck “vital targets” in Sanaa as well as the northern province of Saada on the borders with Saudi Arabia.
Airstrikes that hit Sanaa on Saturday morning were also claimed by the Yemeni military.
The attacks were part of a major escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Iranian-backed Houthis that revived Yemen’s civil war after a four-year ceasefire.
A projectile struck a tanker on the Strait of Hormuz, damaging the engine room, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center said.
It was not immediately clear who launched the attack, nor was it clear when it was carried out. The UKMTO said the crew was reportedly safe.
Overall ship traffic remains below prewar levels in the Strait of Hormuz, as do shipments of energy products, even though Iran has lost its near-complete chokehold over the crucial waterway due to the U.S. Navy’s efforts to shepherd oil tankers through the strait. That, along with various pipelines, has allowed Gulf countries to restore oil exports to nearly prewar levels.
This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
Mourners carry the bodies of Palestinians Maisaa Abu Dawood and her daughter Mary, who were killed in an early morning Israeli airstrike, during their funeral at the Church of St. Porphyrius in Gaza City, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A gull flies overhead as a boy stands with his bicycle on a beach overlooking commercial vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
