Chris Sutton has criticized Ally McCoist following recent remarks made by the Rangers legend regarding Scotland’s new hate speech act. The former Celtic player shared his thoughts on controversial comments made by McCoist, his former colleague at BT Sport, ahead of the third Glasgow derby of the season at Ibrox on Sunday.
In response to McCoist’s statement, Sutton remarked, “By saying that he and 48,000 others will be violating the law in that match, he left himself vulnerable.” Sutton, who has worked closely with McCoist, suggested that McCoist’s remarks may have been meant humorously, but if not, they were reckless and irresponsible.
McCoist stirred controversy when he declared, “A hate bill has been passed in the country. And I can guarantee you, next Sunday at Ibrox, I, along with 48,000 will be committing a breach of that hate bill in the particular Rangers vs Celtic game we are all going to. It is madness.” However, McCoist later announced that he would not attend the match.
Speaking on the Daily Mail’s ‘It’s All Kicking Off’ podcast, Sutton added, “He has now stated that he won’t be attending the game, which may be his way of retracting his words. However, he will need to clarify his stance on this matter as I found his comments somewhat peculiar.”
McCoist has since clarified, “People are accusing me of intending to break this act, and I won’t even be at the game.”
The upcoming derby is already sold out, with Celtic supporters unable to attend. Kyogo Furuhashi scored the winning goal for Celtic in Govan on September 3, and he repeated the feat at Parkhead on December 30 in front of home supporters, securing a 2-1 victory.