Celtic and Rangers are awaiting a decision from a Scottish FA appellate tribunal after challenging orders requiring them to play their next home Scottish Cup matches without spectators.

The Glasgow rivals presented their appeals on Monday. The tribunal has moved into deliberations and will announce later whether the punishments will remain in place.

The Scottish FA imposed the sanctions in late August following disorder after last season's Scottish Cup quarter-final at Ibrox. Celtic won that match through a penalty shoot-out.

Both clubs are also contesting £100,000 fines connected to clashes involving supporters on the Ibrox pitch. The incident included fireworks and other missiles being thrown, and police officers were injured. By 25 August, 43 arrests had been made.

In addition to the proposed closed-door cup ties, Celtic and Rangers were warned that another home match could be played without fans if there is further unacceptable conduct.

Review identified failures

An independent review published in July found that the incident had come within a very small margin of becoming a violent mass confrontation. The review was led by Mark Blackbourne.

It identified shortcomings by both clubs and also criticised the Scottish FA for not responding more firmly to crowd disorder.

Separately, an agreement reached in September means no away supporters will attend Old Firm derbies in this season's SPFL competitions.

Source: BBC