This is his full statement:

"The complaint against me at the instance of the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates following upon a much publicised incident after the Scottish Cup Final has been dealt with in accordance with faculty disciplinary rules and the outcome has rightly been made public.

I regard this as a serious matter and I accept without hesitation or reservation that outcome.

I again wish to tender an unreserved apology to anyone who was offended by my conduct on that occasion. I can only re-affirm that it was not my intention to offend anyone.

To the extent to which I have offended any member of my profession or faculty, I offer unreserved apologies.

I wish to make no further comment on the matter save to say that it has been a source of great personal pain and distress but many valuable lessons have been learned by me and I hope by others.

'Sincere thanks'

I do wish to express my sincere thanks to the many people from all walks of life, many of whom are strangers to me, in Scotland and beyond, of all faiths and none, who wrote to me or contact me to express their support.

I will be forever grateful for their compassion and understanding in what was the most difficult and painful period of my life.

To the many members of the legal profession, many of whom I do not know personally, who contacted me to express their understanding and respect, I can only say that I am forever in their debt. To have such support from one's professional colleagues has been a truly humbling experience.

My family and those close to me know already the level of my gratitude, but I wish it to be known publicly the extent to which their strength was my constant support.

I especially wish to express my very special thanks to the many hundreds of supporters of Celtic FC who contacted me or wrote to me to confirm that they understood that my actions were motivated by a combination of euphoria and a deep and abiding love for Rangers FC and not by any personal antipathy to them or their faith.

'It was inappropriate'

What I did should not have been done. It was inappropriate for the vice chairman of a great football club, which has done so much in recent years to eradicate unacceptable aspects of football in Scotland.

It was inappropriate for the holder of the public office of advocate. Even more so, it was inappropriate for a man like me who believes passionately that there is no place in our society for any act of prejudice on the basis of race, colour, creed or even political belief.

I have never knowingly acted to the prejudice of a man or woman because of their race, colour, creed or political belief and never would.

Football is about passion and commitment. One should respect and value the traditions of one's club and respect the traditions of others.

The late Bill Struth's philosophy was that in victory or defeat, the smile should be the same. I believe that this is the way forward.

This whole affair has, perhaps rightly, taken a very heavy toll on me.

I ask only that I may be allowed peace in order to attempt to rebuild my life."

Donald R. Findlay