HAMPDEN IN JUNE IS JUST RIDICULOUS

the governing body committed to playing ‘in front of supporters’ subject to advice from the chief medical officer. ‘As with any postponement, tickets will remain valid for the rescheduled date,’ added Maxwell. ‘We were delighted with the ticket sales and that the supporters all wanted to come watch us play and I’m sure there are a lot of disappointed Scotland fans that they can’t get along to see the game when it was scheduled for. We will try to get it on as soon as we can.’ Welcoming UEFA’s decision to delay the finals until a new start date of June 11 next year, Hampden remains a host venue for four of the games. And Maxwell added: ‘It is absolutely the right decision. ‘The UEFA president outlined that the health of the public, players, match officials and spectators is of paramount importance and, given the global pandemic we find ourselves in, arranging a tournament of such magnitude for June was never realistically going to happen. ‘It’s Europe’s flagship event, we are celebrating 60 years of European football and it’s absolutely right that we do that across 12 cities, as planned, with spectators at every match so that people can enjoy football as it should be. ‘It’s a 12-month postponement and we expect the stadia planned will be the ones used in 12 months’ time, so it’s really just business as usual. From what is now a Euro 2021 perspective, we will be preparing for it like the other host cities will be.’ While the fate of the current Premiership season is still up for debate, Maxwell insisted the Scottish Cup will be played to a finish when the chance comes up. Confirming that the original semi-final dates of April 11/12 and the final on May 9 had been scrapped, Maxwell was reluctant to name new dates but said: ‘It’s difficult to say. They are scheduled for a little over a month’s time and that’s obviously going to be impossible in that time period. ‘But it is a flagship event for the Scottish FA, it means a lot to clubs, it means a lot to players and to supporters to watch their team lift the Scottish Cup and we want to give every supporter we can a chance to come and watch those games being played — so we will look to reschedule. ‘We want to get football back on everybody’s minds as soon as we can. We need to take advice from the medical experts. ‘This is not something that affects just football, this is something that affects every reach of society and something everybody will want to see us get out the other end of. ‘We will be guided by UEFA and the joint response group we have established will continue to meet on a daily basis, take advice from them and work through things as they come.’