A ROMAN Catholic footballer who blessed himself during a match has been cautioned by police after it was decided his behaviour had been provocative and had led to crowd trouble.
Fans complained after Artur Boruc, the Polish goalkeeper for Glasgow Celtic, crossed himself during a derby with arch-rivals Rangers at Ibrox stadium, Rangers’ home ground, in February.
The teams have strong religious associations, Celtic seen as Catholic and Rangers as Protestant. As crossing oneself is a Catholic tradition, it might be seen as provocative by some Rangers fans. Boruc is a practising Catholic and says he has always made such gestures while playing.
After an investigation by the procurator fiscal — the Scottish crown prosecutor — it was decided that Boruc’s behaviour provoked alarm and crowd trouble and constituted a breach of the peace, but not one serious enough to warrant court action. (click to read the whole story.)
Fans complained after Artur Boruc, the Polish goalkeeper for Glasgow Celtic, crossed himself during a derby with arch-rivals Rangers at Ibrox stadium, Rangers’ home ground, in February.
The teams have strong religious associations, Celtic seen as Catholic and Rangers as Protestant. As crossing oneself is a Catholic tradition, it might be seen as provocative by some Rangers fans. Boruc is a practising Catholic and says he has always made such gestures while playing.
After an investigation by the procurator fiscal — the Scottish crown prosecutor — it was decided that Boruc’s behaviour provoked alarm and crowd trouble and constituted a breach of the peace, but not one serious enough to warrant court action. (click to read the whole story.)
I have known one or two Scottish folks in my time, and always liked them (still do) and considered them all to be sensible, level headed people. A few years back, I worked for a local discount department store, and became acquainted with a gentleman who was the sales representative for General Electric’s Electronics’ Division, whom everyone called, appropriately enough, Scottie. Scottie had lived in this country for the previous 25 years or so, and had never gotten his citizenship here, but, kept his citizenship in Scotland. Scottie was a fine fellow, and all of us who worked for this store thought very highly of him. One day, we were all at the store snack bar taking a break, and Scottie had joined us. One of my co-workers and I were discussing some current event that escapes me now, and I made some comment about America being free. Scottie tapped me on the shoulder, and in that wonderful Scottish brogue of his said, “America is not free…Scotland is free!” The tone of voice in which he said it, and the manners of the man kept me from taking offense, and we laughed, and continued our conversation. After reading the story I just read on The Sunday Times, I am afraid that today I would have to ask Scottie, when did the Scottish folks decide to start trampling on freedom?
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