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FROM BACK PAGE than a fortnight’s time. The SPFL confirmed our ‘full steam ahead’ exclusive yesterday as talks with the government continued behind the scenes.
Despite fears that Holyrood could yet perform a late U-turn in the face of soaring coronavirus numbers, league chief executive Neil Doncaster has advised clubs to get ready for ‘business as usual’ when the current circuit-breaker restrictions – which limit crowds to just 500 – are lifted in 10 days’ time.
And the SPFL insist the dominance of the new Omicron strain justifies the move back to bumper attendances.
A league spokesperson told us last night: “It’s now almost universally accepted that while clearly more infectious, the Omicron variant is far less severe in its impact than previous waves, which is very welcome news.
“Although Covid has shown time and again that you can’t take anything for granted, we’re therefore quietly optimistic that the clubs’ vote to bring forward the winter break to allow breathing space to assess the Omicron variant will prove to be the right one.
“Everyone in Scottish football is hopeful that games will be able to resume on the 17th without
Gio’s New York giant restrictions on fans and we await developments as we liaise with Scottish government over the coming week or so.”
Doncaster had to rubber-stamp an 11thhour reshuffle of the packed festive fixture calender just before Christmas when the new hard-line coronavirus regulations were imposed.
One round of top-flight matches did go ahead effectively behind closed doors on Boxing Day but two further rounds of matches – including big city derbies in Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow – were postponed as the winter break was brought forward by two weeks.
As we reported yesterday, football’s Joint Response Group has also asked for a £2million slice of the £5m crisis fund set aside for sport, to help cash-strapped clubs cover the financial costs of the latest Covid upheaval.