Sturgeon stands her ground on SPFL plea

across the country are on the brink of going out of business after nine months of coronavirus lock-out.

In the letter, which was made public, Doncaster asked why fans were being allowed back into grounds in England but not Scotland.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has given the green light for crowds of up to 4000 to return to stadia in England from next week.

So far, the maximum number of fans permitted north of the Border has been 300 at Ross County and Inverness Caley Thistle.

Sturgeon said: “There is a difference right now between case levels in England and Scotland.

“The idea that we are restricting anything right now for no good reason has no basis in reality.

“Fans are allowed back into stadiums in limited numbers in Level 1 areas. Ross County have had fans back in their stadium. So we monitor that and will continue to look at how we can safely increase numbers.

“But the emphasis has to be on how we strike the balance that keeps people as safe as possible.

“However much Neil Doncaster, for reasons I understand, is only looking at football, we can’t see any sector or any part of society in isolation because there is only so much we can do overall if we are to keep the virus under control.

“It’s difficult for football, I know that. But it’s difficult for lots of people, lots of businesses and lots of sectors right now.

“We can see that light getting brighter on the horizon but the next few months will still involve some tough decisions to try to get through the remainder of this pandemic with as little impact on life and health as we possibly can.”

National clinical director Professor Jason Leitch said: “The route back for fans is lower levels and lower levels depend on the prevalence in the community.”

Sturgeon did not say if she’d be willing to meet in person with Doncaster.