The Scottish Senior Football Referees Association has thrown its backing behind Kevin Clancy following the abuse he suffered in the aftermath of Celtic vs Rangers.

The official was the man in the middle for the powderkeg derby clash in Glasgow on Saturday. 

The game finished 3-2 to Ange Postecoglou's side, as they took another big step towards clinching the Premiership title.

Clancy's performance came under scrutiny after the pulsating game. 

The referee's decision to chop off Alfredo Morelos' goal in the first half of the game has proved to be highly controversial.

Today it was revealed by the Scottish FA that Clancy has received a barrage of abusive messages over the holiday weekend since his involvement in the fixture.

The SFA have had to refer a 'significant volume of threatening and abusive emails to Police Scotland after "personal and professional contact details" of Clancy's were leaked.

And now the body who represent officials in Scotland have offered their support to Clancy.

READ MORE: SFA inform police of Kevin Clancy abuse after Celtic vs Rangers

They said: "The SSFRA condemns the wholly unacceptable level of abuse directed towards Kevin Clancy following this weekend's Celtic vs Rangers match.

"Referees are not immune from criticism and accept there will always be legitimate debate on subjective decision making.

"However, when this becomes targeted threats and abuse impacting on their personal and professional lives this clearly crosses the line.

"We continue to offer our full support to Kevin and all our members, many of whom have experienced an increase in abuse this season. We welcome the Scottish FA's strong support to protect referees and the wider image of the game."

Ian Maxwell, Scottish FA Chief Executive, said: “The nature of the messages goes way beyond criticism of performance and perceived decision-making - some are potentially criminal in nature and include threats and abuse towards Kevin and his family. 

“We have referred the correspondence to the police and condemn this behaviour in the strongest possible terms, as well as the posting of a referee’s personal details online with the sole purpose of causing distress.

“Football is our national game. It improves and saves lives. Without referees, there is no game, and while decisions will always be debated with or without the use of VAR, we cannot allow a situation to develop where a referee’s privacy and safety, and those of his family, are compromised. 

“We all have a responsibility to protect our game and those essential to it.”