Finishing SPFL season remains in doubt
Hopes that the SPFL season 2019/20 could be played to a finish were dealt a blow when First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said that Scottish football should not expect to hold matches in front of fans “any time soon”.
She also said that the prospect of playing behind closed doors needed to be “very carefully considered”.
All football in the country has been suspended since 13 March and most top-flight clubs in the country have played 30 games.
The SPFL had left the door open to complete the top-flight fixtures but the announcement may mean that the league will be called with Celtic declared champions and Hearts subject to relegation unless a sufficient number of clubs agree to reconstruction.
Speaking at her daily briefing, she said: “People should not be under the expectation that largescale, mass gatherings will be starting anytime soon because we must make sure we are doing everything we can to continue to suppress this virus. Some form of social distancing is going to be required up to the point that a vaccine is available.”
When asked about the possibility of playing games behind closed doors she responded: “We have to consider if that completely takes away the risk. If a match is still on TV, the danger is people will congregate together to watch. What I will say is they will be very carefully considered and we’ll share as much of that as we can.
“I know that is not good news for people who have sport as a really important part of their lives but it would be wrong for me to give false expectation about an early resumption of large-scale sporting events.”
Hibs CEO, Leeann Dempster, withdrew from the SPFL’s reconstruction group to focus on “the biggest issue facing our game”. She took no part in the group’s first meeting.
She said: “It’s important we plan for supporters to be back in stadiums. And we need to do that as safely as possible, while of course considering things like social distancing and other elements, which we need to get right. We know the challenges that are there.
“We don’t want to challenge government or health officials.We want to work in partnership to look at a plan that allows us to get our stadia open as safely as we can."