HIBERNIAN chairman Rod Petrie has condemned the supporters involved in the disorder at Hampden on Saturday as he performed a U-turn from his original position in the aftermath of the Scottish Cup final.

The Scottish FA have set up an Independent Commission to investigate the riot that saw thousands of Hibs fans storm onto the park and several members of the Rangers squad assaulted after the final whistle.

Speaking after the match, Petrie put the extraordinary scenes down to ‘over exuberance’ from fans as they celebrated Hibs winning the competition for the first time in 114 years.

In a statement on Sunday evening, Rangers were critical of Petrie, who is Vice-President of the SFA, for his comments and claimed that they had received no communication from the Easter Road club following the disorder which tarnished the showpiece finale to the domestic campaign.

Hibs have vowed to cooperate fully with the SFA probe, say they ‘cannot condone supporters coming onto the field of play’ and insist that they will take ‘the strongest possible sanctions against any supporters involved in criminal activity or unacceptable behaviour’.

Police Scotland have also launched their own investigation into the post-match disorder and Petrie has hit out at the actions of Hibernian supporters on what should have been a day to remember for Alan Stubbs and his players.

“It is now clear from various sources that supporters being on the pitch at the end of the match led to acts of violence and disorder,” Petrie said.

“I condemn and the Club condemns all of the violence and unacceptable conduct perpetrated on the pitch and elsewhere and in the margins of the match at Hampden. There is absolutely no place for it in the game of football.

"Hibernian will do all that it can to support the criminal investigations to ensure that those who have transgressed face the consequences of their actions.”