ACT NOW TO STOP PYRO ARMS RACE

Football bosses are accused of abandoning schemes to stop fireworks

- MARK MCGIVERN

SCOTTISH football authorities have been told to act now before an impending pyro crisis blows up in their faces.

Fears have been raised fans could "suffer catastrophic phosphorous burns or worse" if nothing is done to stop the use of fireworks and flares in stadiums.

It is claimed procedures set in place to combat fan use of pyrotechnics have all but been abandoned, depsite a huge rise in incidents.

Training regimes that were being formed after a panic over flares in 2016 have fallen by the wayside, as clubs and football authorities have failed to adopt education or security initiatives to stem the rising tide.

We can also reveal that the recent Old Firm clash in the Viacom Cup Final at Hampden resulted in so many flares and rockets being set off in the stadium that a specialist pyro firm was called in to safely remove the debris.

One senior security source said that, despite searches at turnstiles, the match resulted in more pyro material entering the ground than any previous match in Scottish history.

The source said: "There was stuff all over the stadium, including fireworks that hadn't properly ignited and had to be professionally disposed of. A whole carload was taken off to be examined and disposed of

'' You could see from the videos that emerged that some of those firing rockets and throwing flares were barely old enough to legally buy fireworks yet there were police and stewards just watching as though it was a normal part of the game"

The source said authorities such as the SFA and SPFL, along with the major clubs, have done little to stop the rise of pyros among ultra groups and any hanger-ons.