STUPIDITY IS NOT A VALID EXCUSE

CORONAVIRUS CRISIS Bolingoli’s breach of the rules is simply unacceptable and furious Celtic boss reads out the riot act

PLACED high on a pedestal by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, footballers don’t ask to be role models. Nor, on weeks like this, do they deserve to be.

Finding reasons or excuses for the behaviour of Boli Bolingoli isn’t easy. Yesterday, Neil Lennon didn’t really try.

Celtic’s manager spoke of the Belgian left-back in terms of anger, disbelief, despair, disgust and revulsion. More than anything, he feels hurt.

Issuing a dressing-room edict to players to stray no further than the Glasgow boundaries after a 5-1 win over Hamilton on the opening day of the season, the £3million signing from Rapid Vienna somehow interpreted that as a licence to fly to Spain for the day.

On his return to Glasgow, he tried to keep the whole trip quiet. Despite visiting a high-risk country against government guidelines, he trained with team-mates without breathing a word. He then made a brief cameo as a substitute in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock, exposing opponents to the same dangers he had already inflicted on his own team-mates.

Celtic’s next two fixtures against St Mirren and Aberdeen have now been postponed on government orders in what looks like a shot across the bows for Scottish football.

Aberdeen are also affected and, while both clubs will play European qualifiers next week, the damage to their domestic ambitions can’t be overstated. Celtic could now start the third league game of a ten-in-a-row season a full 11 points behind Rangers.

Asked if he feels wounded by the betrayal of one of his own players, Lennon said: ‘Yes I do. My physio Tom Williamson has been working all the hours God sends and he is devastated.

‘We were at the forefront of this, trying to get football back.

‘We worked so hard on the stadium and the training ground, with all the testing that we’ve done, with the health and safety aspect, and this has just put a huge dent in all the work that has been going on behind the scenes.

‘He hasn’t given me an explanation and I haven’t really pushed him. I just have no idea what his motives were or what his thoughts were behind it.

‘It’s not just the fact he went to Spain, it’s the fact he didn’t tell anybody. He would have had to come back through the security desk and been told: “Right, you’re back from Spain, you’re going to have to quarantine for two weeks”. And he hasn’t done that — so it’s a blatant disregard for club policy and also government policy.’

While clubs have spent fortunes trying to insulate themselves in a bio-secure bubble, they can’t legislate against the stupidity of footballers.

Already investigating allegations of striker Leigh Griffiths throwing a party for his girlfriend, Lennon doesn’t dispute this. But he believes it’s too easy a get-out.

‘It’s not stupidity,’ said Lennon. ‘This has been premeditated. You don’t book a flight to Spain on a whim. He knew exactly what he was doing. So this has been quite calculated.

‘It’s disregarding of the outcome and the risks involved, so he will be dealt with in the strongest possible way by the club.’

Tight-lipped on what that might be, dismissal can’t be ruled out. In the cynical world of professional football, however, players hold a monetary value. While Celtic will fine the left-back the maximum possible, a cut-price sale still looks more likely than a sacking. ‘That is not a question I am going to answer at the minute,’ said Lennon.

‘I’ll have to wait and see what the disciplinary procedure of the club will be and take it from there.

‘We talked about the Aberdeen situation and this was all going on in the background without my knowledge. The player knew about it, said nothing and it really grates with me.’

Revealing that the player had already been forced to isolate for an incident last month after a pre-season trip to France, the Parkhead boss explained: ‘He came back from Paris on a commercial flight.

‘We gave him an extra night and he had to isolate for a couple of days and missed the Hibs game pre-season, so he was up to date in particular and on an individual basis that he couldn’t travel any more. What he did was just inexcusable.’

Naturally, supporters will ask how much Celtic knew. Rumours of players being given four days off after the Hamilton game proved false. Establishing a bio-secure hub at their Lennoxtown training ground and Celtic Park, the champions insist they have gone the extra mile to keep players safe. In return, the people they did it all for have been a good deal less careful.

‘Ultimately, it has to come down to personal responsibility ,’ shrugged Lennon. ‘You cannot be any clearer than saying: “Don’t leave Glasgow”. Now we have to log in everything we have done in terms of where we’ve been.

‘There’s no restaurants, no socialising, no cafes, but this particular individual has decided to jump on a plane and go to Spain for a day which, again, is baffling.

‘Then he comes back and doesn’t tell anybody where he has been.

‘We have been totally oblivious to it for the whole week leading up to the Kilmarnock game.

‘But all this came out yesterday and blew up in our faces really.

‘So in terms of the club responsibility, the club can’t do any more. The club have done everything possible.

‘We’ve had umpteen rounds of testing now and everything is negative but we can’t legislate for the behaviour of an individual.

‘We can’t legislate for tracking them 24 hours a day. Sometimes you have to take accountability for this.

‘I’m not saying the club are not taking accountability — we are holding our hands up.

‘But it’s reprehensible behaviour from one individual.’

In the aftermath of a 1-1 draw at Kilmarnock and difficulties signing players — striker Albian Ajeti will arrive on loan from West Ham in the next 24 hours — Celtic’s march to ten in a row suddenly looks more complex.

Fixture congestion caused by the postponement of their next two games does nothing to help.

‘We are aware that the next few games are postponed and that’s a huge blow,’ admitted Lennon. ‘We’re trying to get our season going and build momentum.

‘But we’re going to have to accept this and adapt to it as best we can.

‘We won’t use it as any kind of excuse. We’ll play the games whenever we’re to play the games and try and maximise the best of a pretty awkward situation.’