SFA probe second-tier shutdown

Maxwell asks Championship clubs whether to pause play

SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell has written to all 10 Championship clubs asking if they want to suspend the season or continue playing.

The move comes after play below Championship level was suspended until January 31 this week because of rising coronavirus rates across the country.

Maxwell, who has given clubs until close of business on Monday to respond, revealed in his email that one unnamed second tier club has called for all football to be suspended.

Championship clubs had been allowed to continue their truncated 2020/21 campaign, which got underway in October, on the condition that they test all their players and staff on a weekly basis.

Maxwell writes: “One Championship club has publicly taken the position that all Football should be suspended.

“The Scottish FA would like to understand the position if your club – please confirm if you are content to continue under the current exemption or whether your club considers that the Championship should be suspended.”

Meanwhile, St Mirren were last night hailing a ‘victory for common sense’ after the Paisley club, alongside fellow Premiership side Kilmarnock, successfully got 3-0 walkover defeats overturned as the SPFL’s judicial panel ruled that the games must be rearranged.

After an outbreak of Covid-19 at the Paisley club in October, St Mirren were unable to field a team for the Premiership fixtures against Motherwell and Hamilton as they did not have a fit goalkeeper available for selection.

Kilmarnock suffered a similar outbreak earlier in the same month that led to the entire first-team squad entering self-isolation, and as a result were also unable to field a team against Motherwell.

In both cases, the SPFL originally awarded 3-0 victories to St Mirren and Kilmarnock’s opponents and the two clubs were handed a suspended fine of £40,000.

The pair lodged an appeal with Scottish football’s governing body – resulting in the two Lanarkshire clubs being stripped of the points awarded to them, pending the outcome – before the judicial panel met on Thursday evening, where they decided to overturn the SPFL’s original decision.

The affected games will now be rearranged for a later date that has not been decided yet and the fines have been reduced to £20,000 each. Half is to be paid immediately, while the other half is suspended.

In a statement, St Mirren said they were ‘delighted’ with the outcome of the appeal, while a statement from Kilmarnock echoed the sentiments.