Celtic have announced that anyone found to have planned, facilitated or taken part in a protest against the club’s major shareholder, Dermot Desmond, at the Alfred Dunhill Links will be banned for life. The club also stated that it no longer recognises the Celtic Fans Collective as a representative body speaking on behalf of Celtic fans, and is ending all cooperation with that collective.
The incident took place during a pro-am event, with tennis balls featuring a crossed-out image of the 76-year-old Desmond thrown onto the green of the 15th hole. Footage shows Desmond being escorted off the course by security staff. The club stated in a statement that it "strongly condemns" the incident, describing it as a "pre-planned action" that was "pre-arranged and planned in advance".
Earlier that day, the Celtic Fans Collective had released a statement, along with images and video of the incident. The collective’s statement states that "Dermot Desmond has effectively been allowed to run Celtic Football Club while hiding from fans and accountability behind his wealth", and that "fans have taken the opportunity to send a message that such an arrangement cannot continue".
Desmond is the largest individual shareholder in the Scottish side. In recent seasons, he has been criticised for a lack of progress in Europe and disappointing transfers. Following the resignation of Brendan Rodgers at the start of last season, Desmond blamed the former manager for many of the problems that marked the start of the 2025/26 campaign.
At Celtic’s annual general meeting last November, which had to be broken up due to unrest among fans, Ross, Desmond’s son, read out a statement on behalf of his father. Ross began by defending his father, a "lifelong and passionate" Celtic fan, and the board promised not to allow the club to be "managed by aggressive and irrational" critics. Desmond, for his part, defended then-president Peter Lawwell and chief executive Michael Nicholson, stating that attempts to "dehumanise and blacken with shame" were shameful. He also criticised a section of fans for a recent incident following which the ultras group Green Brigade had been banned, adding: "These people are violent."
