Celtic told fans they have no choice but to play their Europa League home game against Ferencvaros at 3:30 pm on Tuesday 19 October.
Both Celtic and Rangers were scheduled to play in Glasgow on the evening of Thursday 21 October, with the Hungarians visiting Parkhead scheduled to coincide with Brondby’s trip to Ibrox.
However, Scottish police steward companies and other match day service providers are unable to facilitate both parties playing on the house at the same time.
The option to move one of Glasgow clubs’ third day matches to matchday four could not be cleared by the Scottish police due to the Cop26 (United Nations Climate Change) conference to be held in Glasgow in early November.
The authorities have therefore determined that Celtic will bring the game forward by two days to Tuesday and that they will have to play in the afternoon to avoid a clash with the Champions League matches that will be played later that day.
While mid-afternoon kick-off presents an obvious logistical problem for fans who may struggle to get away from work in time to watch the match, Celtic insist they have explored every possible option to avoid this scenario.
A statement on the club’s website reads: “In an effort to avoid this change we have had extensive discussions with all relevant authorities, trying to find a better solution for the club and our fans. However, none of these other options have been successful, due to UEFA considerations, police requirements or domestic match scheduling.
“Clearly this is a series of unfortunate and unique circumstances led by Cop26. We fully understand the frustrations of our supporters. We can assure our fans that we have made a significant representation at the highest level to try to avoid this possibility. “
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