'You don't care about your club': Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers hits out at pyro thugs following heavy UEFA fine

Brendan Rodgers has accused Celtic fans who light fireworks at games of caring only for themselves and not the welfare of the club.

UEFA this week hammered both Celtic and Rangers for the illicit use of pyrotechnics by supporters.

The Parkhead club were fined £16,700 after travelling fans lit flares during their Champions League defeat to Borussia Dortmund in Germany.

Europe's governing body also warned Celtic that they will ban the sale of tickets for away games in Europe if there is any repeat within the next two years.

Speaking ahead of today's Premiership visit of Aberdeen, and before his team travel to Italy for Wednesday's clash with Atalanta, manager Rodgers hopes the penny now drops with supporters.

'It's nothing to do with football,' he said of the pyrotechnics. 'If you keep doing it, you're showing that you don't really care.

'You don't really care for the team, you don't care for the support and you don't care for your club because the club ultimately is getting fined as well.

'So, if you keep doing it, you're clearly showing that you're actually not really worried about your own club. You're worried about yourself.

'If you need to do it, then do it outside the stadium. But don't do it inside where you're going to cause a risk to other people, other supporters.'

Rodgers fears that a ban for an away game in Europe would impact on the team as well as blameless fans.

'Whenever it is, we can't afford for that to happen. If it does, then it's totally on a minority of our support. It's as simple as that.

'Our support is incredible, where it travels and what it gives us.

'We just need to make sure we draw a line on that, and just come with the banners and with the noise and the colour and that will give us a great chance on the field.

'We don't need the pyrotechnics for great support. People that have followed Celtic home and away for years and years should never be getting banned.

'I hope that this does end that, because it just wouldn't be right for any of our supporters to miss a game.'

Rangers were fined almost £28,000 for their fans' use of pyrotechnics during the 4-1 defeat to Lyon at Ibrox in the Europa League and during the 2-0 win in Malmo.

Fearful of a partial stand closure, interim club chairman John Gilligan this week urged fans to see sense, while manager Philippe Clement yesterday echoed that view ahead of tomorrow's trip to Kilmarnock in the Premiership.

'Everything that the club gets fines for, it's a bad thing for the club, for everybody working in the club and for the fans also,' said the Belgian.

'So it lowers the budget for other things but, for the fans, it's also really important. They need to be smart and follow the rules made by UEFA, by the Scottish Football League.

'They need to follow that, like you need to follow the rules when you're outside in the city and you need to follow the rules of the police. That's life.'

Addressing concerns of a more serious punishment unless the pyrotechnics stop, Clement added: 'I don't want to think about that because I know the passion of our fans. They want to give their life for this club.

'So I'm also confident when the right people say the right things, like John (Gilligan) did, that they understand that it's not a good thing for the club, so that they're not going to do it. So I believe in them.'