Scotland hoping to use Israel clash to trial return of spectators

SCOTTISH FA chief executive Ian Maxwell is targeting Scotland’s home game against Israel on September 4 as a test event for the return of supporters.

As the game slowly makes its way back amid the coronavirus crisis, fans were recently told that they were unlikely to be back in stadiums by October.

Scotland’s national clinical director, professor Jason Leitch, also stated that the Scottish Government was looking at running test events in August or September with small numbers of fans.

Maxwell warned that the Scottish FA could lose £3 million if supporters do not return to Hampden Park soon and is looking for the Nations League match against Israel, the first of four international games at the national stadium before the middle of October, to help prove the case for supporters coming back through the gates.

Maxwell said: “Jason Leitch has been talking about getting supporters back in the stadiums.

“They obviously know the work we have gone through in the Joint Response Group, the protocols that were put in place.

“We are working as closely as we can with Scottish Government officials so that they understand the safe measures that we have got to allow supporters to get back into stadiums.

“We just need to work as hard as we can and give everyone the confidence that coming back into stadiums is going to be absolutely safe and we will do things appropriately.

“Test events can be good but stadiums are very specific so a test event at Celtic Park for example doesn’t tell you much about spectators getting in and out, (in relation) to stadiums across Scotland.

“So it is probably more important that each individual stadium has test events.

“Obviously the national team matches will be one of them and there is the Israel game in September and that is definitely one that we will look at targeting to use in that test event environment.”

SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell.