The fallout from Saturday's Glasgow derby continues unabated.

Celtic defeated city rivals Rangers 3-2 to extend the gap at the top of the Premiership table to 12 points with seven games left in the campaign in the Hoops' quest to retain the title.

However, Rangers were left seething over referee Kevin Clancy's performance which the Light Blues placed under the microscope after the five-goal thriller in Glasgow's east end.

The Ibrox men were irate at the decision to chop off an Alfredo Morelos' goal in the first half for a foul on Celtic defender Alistair Johnston and penned a letter to the SFA demanding an explanation and clarification as to why the whistler had ruled it out.

The SFA then responded by stating that Clancy had been subjected to a barrage of abusive messages following his involvement in the fixture with a 'significant volume of threatening and abusive emails' sent to Police Scotland after "personal and professional contact details" of Clancy's were leaked on social media platforms.

Both the SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell and the Scottish Senior Football Referees Association (SSFRA) issued statements in support of Clancy and condemned the abuse.

Celtic Way:

Maxwell 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.”

The SSFRA 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."

Meanwhile, Rangers admitted that they were "astonished" the SFA had backed Clancy and his decision to disallow Morelos' goal.

With the two clubs set to meet again in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden on Sunday April 30 - is time for the SFA to look at drafting neutral referees for this powderkeg clash?

Join Tony Haggerty in the video below and Sean Martin as they discuss all this and more...