Last month Glasgow Rangers hosted Turkish side Fenerbahce during a Europa League tie. During the game, fans unfurled a series of banners in Ibrox's Copland Stand which read: "Keep woke foreign ideologies out, defend Europe". The political message was frowned upon by the footballing authorities, and Rangers Football Club itself. Europe's footballing body UEFA responding by fining the club £30,000, describing the message as 'racist and/or discriminatory', although it did not allude to what group the message was targeting specifically in order to qualify for such a label. UEFA also decreed that any repeat 'offences' in the next two years would result in a one match closure of the Copland Stand.
However, it was the response of Rangers FC itself that was most telling. Such is the capture of almost every Western institution by the woke ideologies referenced in the banner, Rangers went in hard against the dissidents. Such was the fervour to appeal to the establishment that now controls them, Rangers released a statement prior to the UEFA sanctions: "It is deeply saddening and frankly embarrassing that the club is now set to face significant sanctions for the actions of a very small minority". Note, the dismissive description of 'a very small minority'.
Rangers did not stop there.
The following home game they installed the latest version of the so-called 'Pride flag' on the Sandy Jardine Stand, at an angle so that it would be visible to supporters in the corner of the Copland Stand, from whence the banner appeared. Finally, they vowed to identify the supporters responsible for the banner and ban them from Ibrox 'for life'.
Without a hint of irony, they accompanied this threat with the statement: "For the avoidance of doubt, if you do not believe in 2025 that absolutely everyone is welcome to follow Rangers, whether at Ibrox or away, then Rangers is not the club for you and you should disassociate yourself with the club immediately."
Everyone is welcome to follow Rangers it seems, as long as they bend the knee to woke ideologies...
Last week's grooming meme generated 68 comments and an identical number of shares on Facebook.
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