The arrogant Celtic statement on Dubai mess lacks accountability and is an insult to fans

By John McGinley

January 11, 2021

Celtic have released a statement on the fallout from the club’s Dubai trip.

If you’re lucky enough to have missed the news, defender Christopher Jullien has tested positive for Covid-19. A further 13 first-team players and staff members have to self-isolate including Neil Lennon and John Kennedy.

First and foremost, we have to wish Jullien all the best with his recovery.

As for Celtic? Well, perhaps you’d expect a bit of contrition, a reasonable explanation, accountability or at the very least an apology to supporters.

Instead, the club have kept very much in the lane of disastrous PR, as they have done all season.

There is no sorry to the record amount of season ticket holders.

There is no acceptance of mistakes.

All Celtic are interested in doing is covering their tracks and pretending they’ve done nothing wrong.

You can read the full thing on the official club website.

In part, it reads: “Clearly we are hugely disappointed, as we know our supporters will be. The contacts were identified during the period from Wednesday last week, primarily around flight and team coach travel, during which time Celtic applied the same rigorous protocols used for pre-season training camps, UEFA match travel and for all domestic match arrangements in Scotland.

“These protocols have served us well in the past, as the Club has not had one positive case in our own ‘bubble’ until now. As we have already stated, Celtic’s decision to travel to Dubai for a training camp was for performance reasons. Whilst we were in Dubai, the announcements made on January 4 significantly changed the COVID landscape.

“The reality is that a case could well have occurred had the team remained in Scotland, as other cases have done in Scottish football and across UK sport in the past week.”

Celtic are insulting fans with Dubai statement

The only reality is that Celtic didn’t register a single positive test from within its own bubble for the full 2020 calendar year.

Are we now to believe the Dubai trip didn’t have an impact? Do they really expect us to believe that? They want us to think it was just a coincidence a player contracted the virus.

They even admit the subsequent self-isolation protocol is as a result of flight travel.

Yes, they sought and received permission from the Government. However, Celtic seem to have a problem separating being allowed to do something from whether they should do something. Those are not always the same thing.

Celtic Park / (Photo by Craig Williamson/SNS Group via Getty Images)

Almost everyone could see this entire Dubai visit was a mistake by the time they took a flight out of Scotland. It was never too late to cancel even if there were costs involved.

By the way, why was Chris Jullien even on the trip? He’s out for four months with a knee injury remember. It’s not his fault, but he shouldn’t have been there.

Fans deserve better. We need accountability. We need communication that doesn’t try to obfuscate.

This goes beyond being ‘hugely disappointed’, Celtic.

The entire shambles is a result of the awful decision-making and dropping of standards that have let us down so badly.

Those in charge of the club seem to be in a continuous downward spiral.

Sadly, I don’t even think we’ve hit rock bottom yet.