Vics hold back wages after juniors axed

Blantyre Victoria have been forced to stop paying players’wages amid financial fears as Scottish football comes to a halt amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The junior outfit held crunch talks with their players last night to explain the decision and announce that training had been axed at the KG Stadium.

The Vics had recently surged into the Championship promotion places off the back of a 16-game winning streak.

However, with fears over the future of sides in Scotland without matchday income, Vics have stopped playing their players until the season begins again. Vice-chairman Blake Welsh said:“under the current circumstances we fully understand the precautionary measures the SJFA have implemented and trust that spectators will take the necessary measures to protect themselves and those around them.

“Following advice from the SFA Joint Response Group we have postponed all first-team training sessions for the foreseeable future.

“We have encouraged the players to continue to train individually for the time being.

“As with many clubs all across the Scottish game, we are worried about the financial impacts that this will have on our club.

“As cash is now limited, we informed our players on Monday that we will be temporarily halting their wages until the league restarts.

“We have paid the previous week’s wages in full. The squad understood this decision and we are grateful for their co-operation.

“At the previously mentioned meeting the players also expressed concerns surrounding the possibility of the league season becoming null and void.

“We are also worried of this possibility becoming a reality after the work that has been put in this season.

“We, as with all members of the SJFA, must remain patient at this time and wait for the situation to become clearer.”