Ayr United have been compelled to “apologise unreservedly” to their very own supporters after sniffer dogs had been deployed amongst followers throughout a stay recreation on Friday evening. The tactic has sparked a livid backlash after the canine crew waded into the home assist shortly after kick-off throughout Friday evening’s televised conflict with Partick Thistle.
Club chiefs have been met with a storm of criticism over the incident, which they are saying got here in response to issues over using pyrotechnics inside Somerset Park. Footage emerged within the aftermath of Friday evening’s recreation exhibiting canine handlers among the many home assist, with claims one young fan – a member of the membership’s personal youth board – had been left on the bottom through the stramash.
Ayr bosses have tonight moved to clarify the presence of the canine crew and insisted their presence contained in the stadium was at “no level permitted”.
An announcement learn: “Somerset Park has sadly seen using pyrotechnics at each home and away ends at a lot of fixtures over the past 12-18 month interval. It is evident that this contravenes stadium rules inside all grounds in Scottish soccer and if the membership will not be seen to be doing its utmost to stop using pyro then the danger of disciplinary motion and sanctions will increase considerably.
“On a weekly foundation at Somerset, the stewarding crew are made up of a mixture of Club stewards and stewards from exterior corporations as a way to present the required stage of personnel to make sure the security and safety of everybody who attends the match. Prior to the Partick match we labored with a 3rd get together firm who supplied to implement sniffer dogs given there was believed to be an elevated threat of pyrotechnics getting used at this recreation.
“The settlement was that one canine could be positioned on the home turnstiles and one positioned on the away turnstiles. This ought to have been communicated to supporters previous to the match and the intentions made clear. At no level had been dogs permitted to be deployed throughout the crowd and we’ve got obtained an apology from the organisation in query.
“Furthermore, the membership needs to apologise unreservedly to anybody who was impacted by the canine and its handler contained in the stadium. This was by no means the intention and we’ve got obtained assurances there won’t be a repeat sooner or later.”
