Man charged after protestor delays Scotland vs Israel match

A man has been charged after Scotland Women’s 2025 European Championship qualifier against Israel was delayed by an on-pitch protestor at Hampden Park.

The protestor chained himself to one of the goal frames at Scotland’s national stadium ahead of the fixture, which was played behind closed doors in response to anticipated planned disruptions.

Scotland Police confirmed a 24-year-old man was arrested and charged following an incident on the pitch before kick off.

He will be the subject of a report to the Procurator Fiscal, Scotland’s public prosecution service.

A statement from chief superintendent Stevie Dolan read: “A proportionate policing response was deployed at Hampden during the evening of Friday, 31 May and we worked with event organisers to ensure the safety of everyone in attendance and those in the surrounding area.

“A 24-year-old man has been arrested and charged following an incident on the pitch prior to kick-off and will be subject of a report to the Procurator Fiscal.”

Photographed in a “Red Card for Israel” T-shirt, a protester appeared to affix themselves to a goalpost using a padlock fastened around their neck.

Following their removal from the field, the match, originally scheduled for a 7:05pm BST kick-off, commenced around 7:35pm BST. At present, it remains unclear how the protester managed to gain access to the stadium.

A number of other protesters were also pictured by the ground outside the doors of the main stand.

Last week, the SFA said in a statement that “the stadium operations team were alerted to the potential for planned disruptions to the match” and, as a result, took the decision to play the game without fans in attendance.

Overall, 36,000 Palestinians have been killed since the Hamas-led surprise attack on Israel on October 7, according to Gazan health officials. About 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in Israel during the attack, according to the Israeli authorities, who also said the Palestinian militants took around 250 people back to Gaza as hostages.

Scotland won the fixture at Hampden Park 4-1.

(AMA Archive – AMA/Getty Images)