{"id":644744,"date":"2026-10-04T18:52:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T18:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/644744\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T18:52:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T18:52:12","slug":"celtic-condemn-tennis-ball-protest-aimed-at-dermot-desmond-at-st-andrews-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/644744\/","title":{"rendered":"Celtic condemn tennis ball protest aimed at Dermot Desmond at St Andrews \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Celtic<\/a> have condemned a protest which saw tennis balls thrown towards principal shareholder Dermot Desmond during his visit to the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews.<\/p>\n

Desmond \u2013 who has been criticised by supporters for a lack of progress on the pitch \u2013 was taking part in the pro-am event on Saturday when the protest took place on the green of the 15th hole.<\/p>\n

Tennis balls with pictures of Desmond\u2019s face crossed out were thrown on to the green. The 76-year-old was escorted off the course by security.<\/p>\n

The Celtic Fans Collective later posted a statement on social media, which included video and pictures of the protest, calling for change at the top of the club and more \u201caccountability\u201d.<\/p>\n

On Saturday evening, Celtic issued a lengthy and strongly-worded statement against the \u201cpremeditated action\u201d which \u201cbrought shame upon\u201d the name of the club.<\/p>\n

\u201cCeltic Football Club has never sought to prevent supporters from expressing criticism of the club, its board or its shareholders,\u201d the statement read. \u201cSupporters are entitled to disagree with decisions, to make their views known and to protest peacefully. What occurred at St Andrews represents a significant and unacceptable escalation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose responsible have brought shame upon the name of Celtic Football Club and upon a reputation which generations of Celtic supporters have spent more than a century building.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe club no longer accepts that the Celtic Fans Collective can credibly claim to represent the wider Celtic support. Those responsible for today\u2019s events certainly do not speak for the many thousands of Celtic supporters who express their views passionately, peacefully and responsibly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Celtic said the club would not be \u201cintimidated or coerced by organised acts of disruption\u201d, adding \u201cthere is a line between protest and deliberate disruption. Today, that line was crossed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement concluded: \u201cNo supporter requires the permission of Celtic Football Club to disagree with its board. But equally, no supporter group has an entitlement to repeatedly disrupt events, intimidate individuals, or seek to coerce the club and then claim to do so on behalf of the Celtic support.<\/p>\n

\u201cCeltic will continue to listen to and engage with supporters who wish to make their voices heard constructively and responsibly. There are many established channels through which supporters can do so, and today\u2019s decision does not diminish the club\u2019s commitment to meaningful supporter engagement.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut engagement requires responsibility. The club will protect its employees, directors, shareholders and supporters. The reputation of Celtic Football Club is non negotiable.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson from the Scottish Police confirmed no injuries were reported from the incident, adding \u201cenquiries are ongoing\u201d.<\/p>\n

Martin O\u2019Neill<\/a>\u2019s side, who won the domestic double last season, currently sit top of the table, two points clear of Rangers.<\/p>\n

However, Celtic lost their last three fixtures before the international break \u2013 two defeats to Rangers, and a 3-1 home defeat to Ferencvaros in their opening Europa League clash.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Celtic have condemned a protest which saw tennis balls thrown towards principal shareholder Dermot Desmond during his visit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":644745,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2675,61,60,112],"class_list":["post-644744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-celtic","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=644744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/644745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=644744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=644744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=644744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}