Footballer gets criminal record for making sign of the cross

Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc was cautioned after complaints were made about his behaviour at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow in front of Ranger's fans.

Strathclyde Police investigated claims that Boruc, 26, angered a section of the home support after allegedly making the religious gesture at the start of the second half of the game on February 12.

Officers submitted a report to the Procurator Fiscal.

A Crown Office spokesman said: "The procurator fiscal has issued an alternative to prosecution in this case.

"On this occasion, the actions included a combination of behaviour before a crowd in the charged atmosphere of an Old Firm match which provoked alarm and crowd trouble and as such constituted a breach of the peace.

"This quite properly resulted in the matter being reported to the procurator fiscal for consideration. Having looked at the full circumstances in this instance the public interest has been best served by the decision to resolve the matter with an alternative to prosecution."

'Alarming' reaction

But yesterday the Catholic Church said the Procurator Fiscal's reaction was "alarming".

Church spokesman Peter Kearney said: "It is extremely regrettable that Scotland seems to have made itself one of the few countries in the world where this simply religious gesture is considered an offence."

Nationalist leader Alex Salmond said he would be "demanding an explanation" for the Procurator Fiscal's decision.

He said: "It is ludicrous. If they had taken this to court then it would have been laughed out."

Neither Celtic Football Club nor Rangers have commented on the cautioning, but the Rangers Supporters Group said Boruc should have been dealt with immediately after the February 12 incident by his club.

Boruc, who played during this year's World Cup in Germany, signed for Celtic from Legia Warsaw in July last year.

In January 1998, while playing for Rangers, Paul Gascoigne was given a severe warning by the Scottish FA after a "playing the flute" mime - a sectarian gesture - in an Old Firm game against Celtic.

It was the second time he had been warned for doing this gesture.