Celtic have branded Rangers' decision to ban their supporters from attending tomorrow's women's derby match as 'hugely disappointing'.
This morning it emerged that Rangers had cancelled all tickets belonging to Celtic fans for Sunday's SWPL derby encounter at Ibrox.
The Ibrox club states this call was made over security concerns regarding high-risk fans infiltrating the game while no segregation between fan bases would be in place.
Celtic have now confirmed the decision from their end, insisting Rangers had numerous options to ensure that Hoops supporters could attend the game safely.
A club statement reads: "It has been confirmed to Celtic Football Club just this morning that all away tickets will be cancelled for tomorrow's women's SWPL match at Ibrox Stadium.
"At a time when so many are working so hard to promote and support the women's game in Scotland, the decision to deny access to so many fans is hugely disappointing, even more so given that there were a number of options available to the home club to allow our fans to safely attend in a stadium of such capacity and given the expected crowd.
"Celtic will liaise with the home club regarding refunds for all tickets and will communicate to our supporters who had purchased tickets as soon as possible.
"We are pleased to inform our supporters that the match will be broadcast at the Sports Bar within Celtic Park tomorrow for any supporters who wish to attend."
READ MORE: Rangers cancel Celtic derby tickets amid high-risk fan concerns
Rangers' statement said: "It is with regret that all tickets purchased by Celtic FC supporters for Sunday’s match at Ibrox have sadly had to be cancelled.
"Intelligence received by Rangers and Celtic on Thursday suggested groups of ‘risk’ supporters in a significant number had purchased tickets from the Celtic allocation.
"Rangers called an urgent operational meeting between both clubs and Police Scotland, with Police Scotland indicating they would need to deploy a sizeable resource at short notice as opposed to it initially being a police-free fixture.
"Rangers is committed to ensuring there are away supporters at our matches for both our men’s and women’s teams. However, a unique selling point of the women’s game is the unsegregated, family-friendly atmosphere, with many children attending these matches.
"Taking all of that into account, Rangers’ security team decided it would be unsafe to allow these ‘risk’ supporters into the stadium, and with Celtic unwilling to cancel just their tickets, the decision to cancel all tickets was taken."
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