Amateur football ‘in the hands of the virus’

Football at a local level was formally put on ice by the authorities until at least the end of the month earlier this week.

On Monday, the Scottish Football Association and the Scottish Government announced an agreement had been reached to suspend all football until January 31 for teams beneath the SPFL Championship.

The situation will be reviewed on a rolling basis by the Scottish FA’s board in partnership with the Scottish Government.

Rod Petrie, Scottish FA president, said:“The Scottish FA is well aware of the efforts all clubs take to comply with the exacting protocols that were conditional on elite football being given an exemption to continue amid the pandemic.

“Nonetheless the continuation of football at all levels has weighed increasingly heavy on me as president, my colleagues on the board and the Joint Response Group as we have watched the new strain of the virus spread rapidly.

“While the national sport has been afforded the privilege of elite sporting exemption, the risk of mass transportation of untested, largely part-time players is something that cannot be sustained as the cases continue to rise and available hospital beds become increasingly scarce.”

Locally, this week’s announcement means the Perthshire Amateur Football Association is continuing to play the waiting game.

Amateur games in Perthshire last took place in November and only a handful of fixtures have been fulfilled in both Division One and Division Two.

President Tom Latto said he realises there will soon come a point when a decision will need to be made regarding the 2020/21 campaign.

“We will wait on word if this current wave does settle down,”said Latto.

“I can’t see it any time soon. Realistically we’d have to be given a go-ahead around March 1 to give clubs the chance to get organised and complete the league.

“It’s not looking as though that is likely to happen. We’re in the hands of the virus at the moment and it has to clear up before we can get moving again.

“We wouldn’t want to call the season too early. But we don’t have any idea when we might get to start.

“It’s something we will need to think about and we’ll need to make a judgement at some point.

“It’s ongoing and I’ll be in discussion with our secretary and the executive committee to see what the best way forward is.

“The clubs will have a say in what happens.”