JUST THE JAB
Vaccinations at stadiums in bid to avoid fixture chaos
SCOTTISH football clubs have been given the green light to establish pop-up Covid vaccination centres to encourage under-30s to get the jab and avoid the new league season descending into fixture chaos.
A new campaign begins with Premier Sports Cup fixtures tonight — and Ross County have already been forced to forfeit tomorrow’s League Cup opener against Forfar after a coronavirus outbreak at the Highland club.
With infection rates rising fast amongst the under-30s, the fear of further disruption has prompted Scottish football’s Joint Response Group — led by SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell — to hold positive talks with the Scottish Government over the establishment of on-site vaccination centres in stadium car parks for players, staff and members of the public.
The JRG want clubs to ensure as many players as possible have received both jabs ahead of
the new league season. And clubs have now been encouraged to contact their local health boards as soon as possible to get things rolling and play their part in getting the nation fully vaccinated. The need to offer players more protection has been hammered home following disruption to the first weekend of League Cup action. Premiership club County suspended football operations earlier this week after an undisclosed number of players and coaching staff tested positive. Following discussions with the Elite Sport Clinical Advisory Group, County told the SPFL they didn’t have enough players to fulfil tomorrow’s cup fixture — and opponents Forfar have now been awarded a 3-0 victory for the forfeited match. New boss Malky Mackay’s first game in charge is now scheduled to be the Premier Sports Cup visit of Dundee on July 18. The SPFL say they will continue to liaise with County and that the news ‘demonstrates the continuing threat of disruption by Covid-19’. Scottish football’s domestic season starts tonight, with crowds of 500 allowed in grounds across the board for the first time since the pandemic began. Crowds of 2,000 fans will be permitted at games from July 19 if Scotland moves to level zero restrictions as planned. An SPFL spokesman said: ‘Consistent with the announcements in respect of similar issues in the group stage of last year’s competition, any team unable or unwilling to field a team in a Premier Sports Cup round-one group-stage tie will forfeit the match on the basis of a 3-0 defeat. Accordingly, Forfar Athletic have been awarded a 3-0 win in the tie. ‘This announcement demonstrates the continuing threat of disruption to SPFL competitions by Covid-19, particularly given the current levels of transmission of the virus throughout the country. We wish the affected players and staff the very best in their recovery and will continue to liaise with Ross County in the coming days.’