FOOTBALL FIRM HALTS BOOKINGS AMID FEARS OF BREACH

Strict rules on sports possibly breached by players at pitch

POWERLEAGUE has stopped taking online bookings in Scotland after the Glasgow Times raised questions over a possible breach of lockdown.

The football chain, which has artificial pitches in more than 300 sites across the UK, opened on Wednesday night at their its headquarters in Paisley to allow people to exercise during lockdown.

In a Facebook post that has now been taken down, Powerleague Paisley wrote that it was taking bookings as a part of a “two-week trial” before evaluating the safety of the small-sided games.

However, concerns were raised over the legality of this during stage two of lockdown in Scotland where contact sports are not yet permitted.

Currently, only members from the same household and people who have formed a “social bubble” can have physical contact.

Powerleague CEO Christian Rose said: “We know the benefits of playing sports and getting out to have a kickabout from a mental perspective.

“When people are playing on our pitches they must observe two-metre social distancing unless they sign a disclaimer saying they are from the same household.

“If it’s a mixture of people from outside your social bubbles then distancing must be maintained. “

However, when asked about several games of 4v4 which were happening on Wednesday night at the site in Paisley, Mr Rose added: “We (Powerleague) are asking people to sign a disclaimer to say that they are from the same household if they want to play full contact football.

“We are also hearing governments in England and Scotland say that it is about the responsibility of individuals to take when following the guidelines.”

“To show compliance we’ve stopped bookings temporarily, and if trading standards say we can reopen then we will. If not then we’ll comply and not carry on.

“If we are breaking the rules of the Scottish Government then we’ll take action.