Scotland on Sunday
FLAGS or scarves bearing political images such as Che Guevara have been banned from football grounds as a result of anti-sectarian laws designed to crackdown on religious bigots.
The communist South American guerrilla fighter is among the more bizarre victims of the new laws, which are supposed to be aimed at preventing fans from displaying inflammatory religious imagery.
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However, regulations also stipulate that anything "political" must also be banned, meaning that Guevara - whose image has been worn by Celtic fans in the past - has now been ruled out of bounds.
Flags backing the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, sometimes displayed by Celtic supporters, also fall within the remit of the ban. The prohibition was highlighted by one Celtic fan and member of the Scottish Socialist Party, who recently attempted to buy a flag bearing Guevara's image at Hampden park.
Wullie McGartland said: "I asked one of the sellers if he knew where I could get one.
"He told me to wait there while he went into a box under the table, then pulled out the very scarf I'd spent 20 minutes looking for."
He went on: "I asked him why the scarves were not on display, only to be told that the council had banned them for being 'overtly political' as part of the crackdown on sectarianism."
Glasgow City Council confirmed that licensing rules for street traders now prevent them from selling political imagery at football matches.
The rules state that no flags or scarves can be sold which have a "political, racial, religious or sectarian content or which could reasonably be construed as inciting".
McGartland added: "I don't understand what the bold Che has got to do with it [sectarianism]. There is no mention on the scarf of the IRA or anything else from across the water - just a picture of Che, his name and Hasta La Victoria Siempre [Always toward victory]."
He added: "Maybe the New Labour-run council doesn't like being reminded of what a real socialist looks like."
The regulations on selling sectarian material in Scotland were introduced in 2003.
Exclusion zones are now operating outside all of Glasgow's three main football grounds: Celtic Park, Ibrox and Hampden.
Tommy Sheridan, the Scottish Socialist MSP, said: "The most iconic image of freedom and justice throughout the world is Che Guevara's image, and to ban paraphernalia of that image is dictatorship personified."
He added: "Only those in authority who want to maintain that authority have anything to fear from Che Guevara. This is a ban too far."
