SPFL Chief Executive Neil Doncaster has warned a coronavirus outbreak at just one SPFL club could make the season very difficult to complete, potentially impacting Celtic, The Scottish Sun report.
A joint SPFL and SFA committee has been set up to monitor the ongoing global crisis and how it relates to Scottish football, liaising with the Scottish Government about the best way to proceed.
Right now, there are no plans to postpone matches or play games without a crowd in place.
However, Doncaster has stated that everyone is Scottish football has to remain vigilant and has highlighted the consequences that an outbreak would have.
As quoted by The Scottish Sun, he said: “We are taking a pragmatic approach to the current situation and have alerted our members to the fact that, if the outbreak affects the first team of even one SPFL club, it could make completing the SPFL season very difficult, so first team players and staff should be extremely vigilant.
“Whilst the current, clear advice is that matches should proceed as scheduled, we will obviously prepare for contingencies where matches might have to be played behind closed doors, or even be cancelled, as we have already seen with other major sporting events.
“With that in mind, we have alerted the Scottish Government to the dire financial consequences facing clubs if the current situation changes and clubs are unable to generate revenue from ticket sales.”
In Italy, all sporting events are to be held behind closed doors until April (The Guardian). Meanwhile in England, the Premier League have also been discussing contingency plans behind the scenes (The Guardian).
It’s important to stress that, presently, there’s no reason to think the season in Scotland will not continue as scheduled.
Ultimately, and obviously, the priority here is not football but the wellbeing of everyone who takes part in the game, as well as spectators and the wider public.
It sounds as if the SPFL are well on top of the issue and are taking it as seriously as possible.
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