SHEER CHAOS
Covid spike plunges return of fans in SPFL into doubt EXCLUSIVE
THE Covid-19 pandemic is once again playing havoc across sport with plans to test the return of fans to six Scottish Premiership fixtures next weekend now close to collapse.
Sport on both sides of the border has been plunged into fresh turmoil by a new spike in coronavirus cases.
And First Minister Nicola Sturgeon yesterday suggested that she could halt the crucial phased return of fans to games in the Scottish Premiership.
The Scottish Government have already given the go-ahead to test events at Aberdeen and Ross County this Saturday, with plans for a phased return scheduled from Monday.
And while SPFL chiefs hope Holyrood jitters won’t cancel the two pilot events set to host 300 fans each this weekend, proposals to admit 750 supporters to six Premiership games next weekend now look doomed.
The return of supporters is crucial to the lifeblood of the game in Scotland and England.
But SPFL clubs are now bracing themselves for a huge financial blow after Sturgeon said the nation was in a ‘very dangerous place’.
She said: ‘I’ve used terms like putting the brakes on, perhaps not going ahead with things we had hoped to.’
Pushed specifically on whether she might cancel the return of fans on the back of a spike in
A spike in cases has cast fresh doubt on fans returning before 2021
cases, she replied: ‘Given the evidence that we’re seeing right now... people can draw, I think, a direction of travel from that.’
Last night, senior figures within the SPFL were resigned to the cancellation of pilot events for the weekend of September 19, despite Aberdeen expressing optimism earlier this week that 750 fans might attend their home game against Motherwell.
Celtic, Dundee United, Hibernian, Kilmarnock and St Johnstone had also put forward their plans to host a limited number of supporters — local restrictions permitting.
A spike in cases has cast fresh doubt over hopes of fans returning to grounds before 2021 — a huge blow to clubs at all levels in Scotland and England.
Scotland’s lower-league clubs delayed the kick-off of their season until October 17 in the hope of fans being allowed back into stadia in some form.
In England, major sporting administrators are already fearing the worst.
Until yesterday morning, a number of Premier League clubs, including Manchester United and Tottenham, were working on proposals to host test events at their first home matches of the season.
United were seeking permission to allow 12,000 fans into Old Trafford for their fixture with Crystal Palace on September 19. These plans will now not happen and new English Premier League chief Richard Masters claimed that matches behind closed doors ‘cannot go on forever’.
Masters had also warned that it was ‘absolutely critical’ for fans to return as soon as possible.
One chief executive at an English League One outfit told
Sportsmail: ‘Quite a few clubs simply cannot get through the season without gate receipts.
‘The longer it continues, the more casualties there will be. At our level and below, football without gate receipts is not viable.’
When news of the Prime Minister’s pending statement, and its contents, began to emerge early yesterday afternoon, a series of panicked calls were made between EFL clubs.
The development will increase pressure on the Premier League to provide a bailout package to the EFL. Talks are ongoing, Masters confirmed yesterday. This newspaper has previously reported that the EFL are understood to be seeking £250m from the top flight over four years.
Racing was the first sport to feel the pinch yesterday when officials from Doncaster racecourse announced that the trial with crowds at the St Leger Festival would be unceremoniously abandoned after the first day, with the rest of the meeting taking place behind closed doors for the rest of the week. The loss of three days with limited spectators will cost Doncaster around £250,000, but the long-term impact on the sport of continued behind-closed-doors racing would be far greater as Britain’s 59 tracks are collectively losing £4m-a-month in the absence of punters at present.
With autumn rugby internationals on the horizon at Murrayfield, the SRU will also be anxiously monitoring developments south of the border.
There are doubts over whether supporters will be able to attend games at Twickenham next month as planned. The RFU have put tickets on sale for England’s international against the Barbarians on October 25 and were hoping for a 20,000-plus crowd — and England’s four subsequent fixtures in the newly-arranged Eight Nations competition. They will lose around £100m if the matches are behind closed doors.
Meanwhile, cricket has already taken its major hit for the year with losses projected to reach £180m.