Killie and St Mirren up in arms over 3-0 defeats for Covid breach

St Mirr en and Kilmarnock are considering their options after being consigned to Scottish Premiership defeats for breaches of coronavirus protocols.

Mother well have been awarded 3-0 victories over both clubs and St Mirren have also been handed a 3-0 defeat by Hamilton Acci es after a Scottish Professional Football League disciplinary tribunal yesterday made its long-awaited ruling.

A sub-committee of the SPF L board, chaired by an independent senior solicitor and involving a sheriff" highly experienced in sports disputes ", heard both clubs' cases on 10-11 November after Covid-19 outbreaks forced the postponement of three league matches in October.

An SPFL statement declared that Kilmarnock had admitted breach es including a failure to implement the necessary physical distancing on a coach to an away game and during a pre-match meal.

St Mirren admitted the same breach es plus" failing to provide suitable facilities to enable players to observe physical distancing at training ". The written verdict revealed that ten players were sharing an eight-metre bench.

Saints also accepted that some of their players had been car-sharing to and from training with up to four in one vehicle.

Both clubs were also handed suspended £40,000 fines.

Kilmarnock said in a brief statement: "The club is bitterly disappointed by the outcome of the SPFL disciplinary case.

"We are in discussions with our legal representatives and will make further comment in due course."

St Mirr en declared their "disappointment" and added: "The club operated honestly throughout the whole process and will review its position before issuing a further response."

Clubs have the right of appeal to the Scottish FA. The decision moved Mother well up three places to fifth spot in the Premiership, four points off the top four. Bottom club Hamilton drew level with St Mirren on 11 points.

An SPFL spokesman said: "The C ovid -19 regulations put in place by the SPFL and