Major raids in Dundee and Aberdeen in connection with football disorder should serve as a stark reminder to fans, a top officer said.
Football fans heading to Hampden Park on Saturday for the Scottish League Cup semi-final between Dundee United and Aberdeen have been warned to behave by Chief Superintendent Eddie Smith, Tayside Divisional Commander of Police Scotland.
His warning comes after Police Scotland arrested 12 people in early morning raids in both cities on Tuesday.
The clampdown followed football-related disorder in Dundee which broke out on December 13 before the Dundee United versus Aberdeen SPFL match.
Tuesday’s operation involved more than 50 officers across both cities carrying out dawn raids on properties.
Four men from Dundee, aged 17, 18, 19 and 41, were among those arrested, with the remaining arrests made in Aberdeen.
Mr Smith said the message was: “Don’t indulge in any anti-social behaviour.
“If we don’t catch people at the time, we have the means to take retrospective action and we will take that action.”
He added: “The operation to tackle football-related violence and anti-social behaviour went extremely well, with four individuals in Dundee being detained in connection with these offences.
“They will be appearing in court at a later date.
“This sends out a clear message that, across the country, Police Scotland will not tolerate violence, disorder or anti-social behaviour at football matches.”