Scottish Cup final underlines need for alcohol ban, says Matheson

His comments came after Police Scotland revealed that they made 14 arrests linked with the game at Hampden.

Thousands of football fans invaded the pitch after Hibernian defeated Rangers in a 3-2 victory.

Mr Matheson said: “I think if anybody thought that reintroducing alcohol into Scottish football was a good idea, events of Sunday, I believe, just underline that it is not and I’m pleased that we stood our ground on that particular issue and opposed those parties in the Scottish Parliament who sought to try to change the legislation to allow alcohol to be reintroduced to grounds.”

Three men were arrested for allegedly breaching the Offensive Behaviour at Football (Scotland) Act 2012 by invading the pitch, while another three were arrested for alleged disorder outside the stadium.

In addition, a 44 year old man was arrested for allegedly trying to enter the stadium while drunk.

The Scottish government said that the Offensive Behaviour Act “sends out a clear message.”

A spokesperson said: “A YouGov poll shows 80 per cent of Scots support the Offensive Behaviour Act - a view shared by the overwhelming majority of those in the sample who follow Scottish football.

“The act sends out a clear message that Scotland will not tolerate any form of prejudice, discrimination or hate crime, and it gives police and prosecutors an additional tool to tackle this behaviour. Any move to repeal the act would send entirely the wrong signal and would undermine progress in driving all forms of prejudice from the game.”

Glasgow Shettleston SNP MSP John Manson said the disorder at the final indicates that now is not “an appropriate time” to scrap the legislation.

A motion was presented to the Scottish Parliament that stated the “scenes” after the cup final show the pressing need to retain both the act and the ban on alcohol at football grounds.