WAITING GAME
Old Firm seek clearance from Sturgeon for trip to France
CELTIC and Rangers are ‘liaising directly’ with the Scottish Government in hope of securing the green light for their pre-season trips to France and avoiding quarantine for 14 days on their return.
Although so-called ‘air bridges’ are due to be implemented in England from Friday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon insisted yesterday that she wouldn’t simply ‘rubber stamp’ the list of approved countries drawn up by the UK Government.
As things stand, anyone travelling abroad has to spend two weeks in lockdown when they land back in Scotland.
Until and unless that restriction is lifted, neither Rangers nor Celtic can finalise plans for next week’s mini tournament in Lyon.
Scottish football’s big two are due to cross the Channel on Tuesday, with fixtures against
both the host club and fellow Ligue 1 side Nice — but not each other — scheduled for Thursday and Saturday. Steven Gerrard’s men are then due to fly straight back to Glasgow, while Neil Lennon takes his side to the capital for a contest with Paris Saint-Germain the following Tuesday. But uncertainty over the travel policy is a source of some concern to those trying to pull together the practicalities involved in a pre-season jaunt. The prospect of Sturgeon digging in her heels and refusing to relax quarantine regulations would throw a spanner in the works for teams due to kick off the domestic season on the weekend of August 1 and 2.
A Scottish Government spokesperson last night sought to allay fears, without offering any guarantees. The spokesperson told Sportsmail: ‘We’ve been liaising directly with both clubs to provide them with advice and are looking to allow elite sport to continue with appropriate precautions as soon as it is safe to do so. We hope to publish a list of countries people may visit without quarantining, as soon as possible once Scottish ministers have completed the process of assessing the information provided by the UK Government.’ Lyon are set to allow up to 4,500 fans into their stadium for their pre-season mini tournament but won’t allow any Old Firm supporters into the ground.