HELP AT HAND
Politicians insist they’ll pull out the stops to ensure our clubs survive
THE Scottish Government have promised to do everything they can to save football from the extinction-level threat of an extended shutdown.
And Sports Minister Joe FitzPatrick, who will take part in a crisis summit today with SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster and SFA counterpart Ian Maxwell, has already pledged further talks to come up with a ‘bespoke’ solution for the game in Scotland.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon initially poured cold water on the prospect of even playing games behind closed doors before the end of the year, but that hardline stance appears to have softened significantly in recent days.
Last night a Scottish Government spokesman told Sportsmail: ‘We are determined to help keep companies — including football clubs at all levels — in business.’
The subject of hard cash will definitely be on today’s agenda, with the UK Government’s recent £16million loan to rugby league raising expectations of similar help for Scotland’s most popular spectator sport.
Sportsmail understands that, with governments
at all levels able to access cheap debt at the moment, there is a willingness to treat Scottish football as an essential community business — and provide financial support on that basis. However, more important even than short-term funding to tide clubs over during lockdown is the need for clear guidance on an exit strategy — to avoid Scotland being ‘left behind’ as competitions across Europe make giant leaps towards restarting. And the Scottish game wants to push a restart model that will be completely independent of ambitious blueprints already drawn up to put English football back on live Tv. The SPFL are still lobbying for a limited return of fans to football grounds, assuming social distancing measures can be put in place, with closed-door games seen as a last resort. As a number of high-profile figures have said in recent weeks, there is a very real threat that clubs will go bust without at least the promise of future revenues — including the new £160m five-year Sky Tv deal due to commence on August 1. The idea of anything other than ‘ghost games’ remains unpopular with the Sturgeon government, who are adopting a more conservative approach to lifting lockdown than their Westminster counterparts. The Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We understand the importance of sport — particularly football — to the people of Scotland, and a desire from many to see our national game and other sports resume. ‘But ensuring the rate of infection is kept as low as possible to protect the NHS and save lives is our priority. ‘A series of virtual meetings led by Joe FitzPatrick, involving senior representatives from the Scottish FA and SPFL, will take place this week to discuss how football and other sports can resume when it is safe to do so — but any relaxation of measures will be guided by scientific evidence.’ The spokesman added that the government was committed to ‘ensuring the football authorities and clubs are accessing all the support and advice which is available at this difficult time’. Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack, meanwhile, believes that finishing the current campaign is no longer ‘a priority’ for Scottish Premiership clubs desperately trying to stay afloat. The SPFL board retain the right to end the season, although all top-flight clubs will be consulted. Cormack, who had previously urged the board to delay making a final call, now admits restarting where the game left off in March looks increasingly unlikely. He told Red Tv: ‘The key priority isn’t necessarily if we finish 2019-20, which is looking more unlikely as the days go by, but is really how do we get back to playing football safely and as quickly as we can? ‘And if it’s going to be behind closed doors, what does that look like from a safety standpoint and the cost of that, plus from a commercial standpoint if more games are going to be watched on television?’