Referee and family threatened after Old Firm match

A referee and his family have been the target of "threats and abuse" since he officiated at Saturday's Old Firm match.

The Scottish Football Association said Kevin Clancy's contact details were published online over the weekend.

And he has received a series of "unacceptable" messages via email and phone.

SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell said some of the contact was "potentially criminal in nature".

The SFA said a "significant volume of threatening and abusive emails" had been referred to Police Scotland, but the force said it had not received the correspondence.

As a result, officers have yet to launch a formal investigation.

Clancy was targeted after the Scottish Premiership match in which Celtic defeated Rangers 3-2.

The SFA confirmed the association's security and integrity manager had been liaising with Clancy and the force following the messages over the Easter weekend.

Mr Maxwell said: "The nature of the messages goes way beyond criticism of performance and perceived decision-making - some are potentially criminal in nature and include threats and abuse towards Kevin and his family.

"We have referred the correspondence to the police and condemn this behaviour in the strongest possible terms, as well as the posting of a referee's personal details online with the sole purpose of causing distress.

"Football is our national game. It improves and saves lives. Without referees, there is no game, and while decisions will always be debated with or without the use of VAR, we cannot allow a situation to develop where a referee's privacy and safety, and those of his family, are compromised."

He added everyone had a responsibility to "protect our game and those essential to it".

The Scottish FA also confirmed the referee operations team had responded to Rangers' request for an explanation for the decision to rule out a goal they believe should have stood by Colombian striker Alfredo Morelos.