SFA FORCED TO PULL THE PLUG
Hampden chiefs acted after losing patience with politicians EXCLUSIVE
SFA chiefs suspended the league season until further notice after running out of patience with the Scottish Government.
Sportsmail understands that SFA president Rod Petrie and vice-president Mike Mulraney called a halt to the domestic campaign after days of talks with politicians failed to garner firm answers on how to protect the health and safety of players, match officials and supporters.
And SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster said it was ‘neither realistic nor possible’ to continue with matches in the face of an escalating public health crisis surrounding coronavirus.
The second leg of Rangers’ Europa League last-16 encounter with Bayer Leverkusen has also been postponed by UEFA.
A statement from the SFA and SPFL joint response group on Thursday night had vowed to hold further discussions ‘to understand the full detail’ of plans unveiled by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to restrict public gatherings to 500 people from Monday.
Despite previously vowing to fulfil a weekend fixture card including the Old
Firm clash at Ibrox, the SFA and SPFL reached a decision to go their own way. Privately, senior figures within the two bodies are critical of the lack of guidance and leadership from Holyrood. They duly postponed all of this weekend’s and next midweek’s fixtures — starting with last night’s Premiership match between Motherwell and Aberdeen at Fir Park and the Championship clash between Queen of the South and Ayr United at Palmerston. What happens next remains unclear. SPFL sources insist there are no plans to declare the league season void, while the SFA will take part in a UEFA teleconference on Tuesday when the potential postponement of the Euro 2020 finals until the summer of 2021 will be discussed. The Champions League and Europa Leagues are also likely to be mothballed for the rest of the season. Pushing back the Euro finals offers the potential to resume the league season at a later date, despite the complication of player contracts running out in May or June. Scotland’s forthcoming Euro 2020 play-off with Israel at Hampden, originally scheduled for March 26, could yet be played at Hampden when the virus begins to relax its grip. But last night, FIFA recommended that all international matches scheduled for March and April should be postponed. In a statement, Scottish FA chief executive Ian Maxwell said: ‘Since the guidance outlined by governments last night, we have been engaged in extensive dialogue to clarify the position and implications of that guidance for Scottish football. ‘Today’s announcement is made in the interests of public health but, equally, the health and safety of players, match officials and staff across the game. ‘This is of paramount importance as the country enters the
“delay” phase of the coronavirus pandemic. ‘It is also why the Scottish FA is compelled to ensure that the suspension is cascaded through the non-professional and grassroots games until further notice.’ Doncaster previously warned of ‘dire financial consequences’ for clubs if matches have to take place behind closed doors. Warning there are no cash reserves to help struggling teams, league chiefs also urged chairmen to review their insurance arrangements. Doncaster said yesterday: ‘As everyone knows, this is a fast-moving and unprecedented situation for the entire country. ‘We have been in intensive and detailed discussions since last night and have also been taking on board the experience of our counterparts in England and across Europe. ‘As a result, the board of the SPFL has agreed this morning that all league fixtures this weekend and next midweek will be postponed until further notice. ‘The health and safety of fans, players and officials is absolutely paramount. ‘We have not yet had any confirmed cases of coronavirus amongst players in Scotland but, given the nature of this outbreak, it seems only a matter of time.’ It emerged last night that an unnamed player from Hearts has gone into self-isolation after showing some of the symptoms. A club spokesman at Tynecastle said: ‘After developing a cough, a player followed the new UK Government guidelines and started a seven-day period of self-isolation as a precautionary measure.’ A player from Inverness Caledonian Thistle and another from Stenhousemuir are also in self-isolation after reporting with symptoms. Championship side Inverness are awaiting the results of tests on their unidentified player, who did not train with the rest of the squad yesterday.