Image source, SNSImage caption, Hearts' Lawrence Shankland with stewards at full time after Celtic beat Hearts to win the Scottish Premiership title
- Published41 minutes ago
Hearts have hit out at "highly irresponsible" comments with "dangerous implications" about the Celtic Park pitch invasion, after Celtic boss Martin O'Neill dismissed claims the incident embarrassed Scottish football as "nonsense".
Police Scotland are investigating after fans spilled on to the pitch to celebrate Callum Osmand's 98th-minute goal, as Celtic beat Hearts 3-1 to win the Scottish Premiership.
Hearts players were confronted by some fans, and Celtic apologised to their opponents earlier this week after they were forced to make a quick exit from the stadium.
Celtic manager O'Neill said on Monday he disagreed that the events marred his side's dramatic victory.
"We are aware of highly irresponsible comments made publicly this week, which appear to seek to defend those who entered the pitch on Saturday and undermine the gravity of the situation," Hearts said in a statement. , external
"Those remarks carry dangerous implications, and we call upon the football authorities to ensure that this matter is addressed with the seriousness it demands, and with the full cooperation of all involved."
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The SPFL said on Sunday that referee Don Robertson had ended the game after Osmand scored, despite the clock showing at least 40 seconds of the allocated stoppage time was still left to play.
But Hearts added they have written to both the SPFL and Scottish FA to set out their observations and also "expressing our concern that a troubling precedent has been set whereby a pitch invasion can effectively determine the duration of a football match".
Meanwhile Hearts'shareholder Tony Bloom has claimed some Hearts players were assaulted during the pitch invasion.
Police are investigating whether there was any criminality involved.
"The final whistle hadn't gone, so no supporters should have been on the pitch," Bloom told talkSPORT.
"The Hearts players were in danger and one or two got assaulted. It is completely unacceptable behaviour and the authorities will be looking at it. I don't want to say any more about that.
"I just want to say how tremendous the players have been all season long and they were absolutely on the floor devastated like all of us but we must come back stronger."
Hearts led the Premiership from September but fell just short of a first league title since 1960 when Celtic took victory in the closing stages of the final game.
Bloom only invested in Hearts a year ago and his data analystics company helped build a squad which went close to ending 40 years of Old Firm dominance.
When the Brighton owner got involved in Hearts he said it was a long-term project to win the league and has vowed the club will return stronger next term.
"For anyone involved in Hearts it is a devastating weekend," Bloom said. "The last 10 days of the season, so much happened.
"However we must look forward - what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. The Hearts fans are absolutely fantastic.
"We will be back next season with a bang. We want to be competing to win the league every single season we possibly can."
