Government rejects fans’ return plan

Proposals to allow Celtic’s home match against Motherwell on Sunday to go ahead with fans in the stadium have been rejected by the Scottish Government.

Celtic boss Neil Lennon confirmed last week that the Hoops were “collaborating” with the government on plans for the game to be used as a pilot for a return to live spectator sport.

Parkhead chiefs were hoping to welcome as many as 1,400 supporters through the turnstiles for the Premiership fixture.

But the Scottish Government said it needed “sufficient time for any test events to be informed by learning from other events”.

Around 700 rugby fans will be allowed into Murrayfield tomorrow when Edinburgh host Glasgow Warriors in Guinness PRO14 action, while Brighton’s pre-season friendly against fellow Premier League outfit Chelsea on Saturday is among several sporting events which will welcome a limited number of spectators over the coming weeks in England.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has already set out an “indicative date” of September 14 for the reopening of Scotland’s stadiums.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “A lot of work has gone on behind the scenes during these past months to create the protocols and testing regimes to allow top-level professional sport in Scotland to resume, without putting the public or others at unnecessary risk.

“We recognise there is disappointment that the proposal for a pilot on August 30 has not been approved but we are looking for suitable alternative dates for football pilots.”

Responding to the news, Motherwell boss Stephen Robinson said: “The government has supported everything to do with football so far and if there is a reason for not doing it then they must have a genuine belief that this is not right yet. But the sooner we can do it, the better.”

Meanwhile, the Joint Response Group has announced there have been no positive results for coronavirus following the latest round of testing.

A total of 1,345 players from across the Premiership as well as Hearts and Glasgow City were tested between August 17 and 23.