Mario Conti, Archbishop of Glasgow, criticised the failure of the European footballing body to take action against the Ibrox supporters, who have long been associated with sectarian chanting.
Speaking to the Scottish Sunday Herald, Archbishop Conti called UEFA’s decision “unhelpful” and warned that it might “inadvertently give encouragement to the bigots”.
Rangers were found not guilty of discriminatory chants during the Champions League matches with Villareal and fined just under £9,000 after a fan smashed a window of the Spanish side’s bus as it returned home for the second leg.
The Rangers fans were cleared of sectarianism by UEFA despite its own report citing instances of fans chanting the line “Up to our knees in Fenian blood” from the notorious We are the Billy Boys song, and shouting “F*** the Pope” during matches.Clearly offensive chants are being used, and that is unacceptable.
Mario Conti, Archbishop of Glasgow
Archbishop Conti added that the ruling gave the impression of Scotland as a “hopelessly sectarian society” not worth bothering about.
In its report, Uefa appeared to wash its hands of any responsibility, indicating that it would not take action because the song had been sung for such a long time without any action from the Scottish football or government authorities.
“In examining the alleged discriminatory chants, the control and disciplinary body admitted that the nature of the song concerned – Hello! Hello! We Are the Billy Boys – related to a social problem in Scotland,” a Uefa spokesman said.
