A Scottish Government spokesman has provided an ominous warning that the season could be paused after yet another lockdown breach in football.
The Scottish Sun revealed last night that Celtic defender Boli Bolingoli failed to go into quarantine after a secret trip to Spain. It has been revealed that he also didn’t inform the club. Boli then featured as a late substitute against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Sunday.
This comes after the Government gave Aberdeen a grilling when eight of their players went to a busy hotspot in the city centre that resulted in two positive tests for the virus (The Times).
And speaking in the Daily Mail, a spokesman for the Scottish Government believes that suspending play could be an option.
“The Scottish Government is aware of reports of a Celtic FC player having broken quarantine rules last week. We are currently in discussion with the club and football governing bodies to establish the facts.
“If confirmed as another serious incident within Scottish football, where protocols have been breached at the risk of wider public health, then the Scottish Government will have little choice but to consider whether a pause is now needed in the resumption of the game in Scotland.”
Postponing the game would be hasty
Putting football into cold storage in Scotland would seem a tad harsh after this latest incident. As things stand, there have been no positive tests at Celtic since Boli’s trip before the Kilmarnock game. That would hopefully be enough to sway the government into keeping things ticking along for now.
What would be another potentially disappointing scenario for Celtic, however, would be a couple of postponed matches. The Hoops are due to face St Mirren tomorrow night before a home clash with Aberdeen on Saturday. If both of those games were pushed back, it would allow Rangers to potentially open up an eight-point gap at the top.
Regardless of whether we would have games in-hand or not, that would make most Celtic supporters feel uneasy. Then it would also be a struggle to try and fit those fixtures back into our calendar considering we would hope to make it into Europe this year.
Boli has really put the club in a difficult situation. If there is any postponement of fixtures, whether that be Celtic’s alone or Scottish football as a whole, it’s a nightmare scenario for the Parkhead faithful.
Today looks like it’s going to be a day of pure drama. All we can do is hope for as light a punishment here as possible.
In other news, Philadelphia Union sporting director Ernst Tanner has opened up on Celtic’s interest in centre-back Mark McKenzie.
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