Aberdeen match postponed after players breach coronavirus protocols on night out

The Aberdeen players who broke the first rule of football in the Granite City – never go out on the town after a defeat by Rangers – found themselves swamped by a maelstrom of controversy as the Dons’ league game against St Johnstone in Perth was called off at the behest of the Scottish Government.

Nicola Sturgeon described herself as being “pretty furious” at their flouting of the club’s instructions on coronavirus protocol. The match has been rescheduled for Thursday, August 20.

Even had there been no pandemic, the sight of eight Aberdeen players in a busy pub on a Saturday night would have invited attention, especially in the aftermath of their 1-0 loss to Rangers - the team most disliked by Dons fans - in the opening fixture of the Scottish Premiership season. Their decision to eat in a popular city-centre establishment guaranteed that photographs and video footage would appear on social media and in newspapers, a scrutiny which intensified when the bar in question was linked with the upsurge in Covid-19 cases that caused Aberdeen to be placed under a second lockdown from 5pm on Wednesday.

The 229,000 inhabitants have been told that they cannot take holidays in Scotland, the UK or elsewhere, or travel more than five miles from home on non-essential journeys. One Aberdeen bar berated the licensed establishments who had not imposed adequate social distancing measures with a social media post which declared that they “have f------ it up for everyone.”

By Thursday night, the Scottish football authorities feared that Aberdeen’s errant squad members – two of whom played against Rangers – had likewise jeopardised the game north of the border. The eight players were ordered to stay at home and observe strict isolation after two tested positive for Covid-19 (one of whom has been confirmed) but, although the group was ruled out of Saturday’s fixture, Scottish football’s coronavirus joint response group (JRG) initially confirmed that the match in Perth would go ahead.

That decision was reversed in dramatic circumstances when the Scottish Government’s Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing, Joe FitzPatrick, told the chief executives of the Scottish Football Association and Scottish Professional Football League that the fixture must be called off. Ms Sturgeon followed up with stinging criticism of the players in her daily coronavirus briefing when she said: “Football has been given the go-ahead on the strict condition that clubs and players abide by the guidance that has been agreed.

“If they don't do that, they put at risk the return of the professional game. To say this incident is deeply regrettable is an understatement.”

She added: “I’m pretty furious about this situation, because it shouldn’t have happened. If that guidance is not going to be adhered to then all bets are off.”

The Aberdeen chairman, Dave Cormack, subsequently released a statement expressing relief that the consequences for the club had not been more severe. “Given the significant Covid-19 outbreak in Aberdeen, we fully understand why the Scottish Government has made this decision in the interests of public health,” he said.

“With the pressure over this season’s fixtures, and the fact that we caused this problem, we were fully prepared to play the game tomorrow. We are very grateful that the decision has been to postpone, rather than forfeit the game.

“I took the opportunity yesterday to apologise to both football and health authorities and to our fellow Premiership clubs today. The clinical decision last night from the JRG that it was safe to play underlines the confidence the football authorities have in the robustness of our procedures and protocols.

“Regrettably, what has happened in the last few days has undermined all the hard work that has gone into keeping our players and staff safe. We are now dealing with this internally with the seriousness it deserves.

“In the meantime, I’d like to reassure the relevant bodies, our fans and everyone associated with the club that our already rigorous measures are being forensically scrutinised and that no stone will be left unturned in ensuring that no-one is under any doubt about what must be adhered to.”

Aberdeen are scheduled to play Hamilton at home on Wednesday and Celtic in Glasgow the following Saturday. The fixtures are currently due to go ahead, but it is clear that further postponements will jeopardise a Scottish Premiership calendar which has almost no spare capacity and which has already abandoned the customary winter break in order to accommodate a packed schedule.

The Celtic manager, Neil Lennon, said that events in Aberdeen had reinforced the message he has delivered to his squad – who meet Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Sunday – about their behaviour during the pandemic. “It’s very unfortunate incident and one that could set us back as a league,” he said.

“We’ve had a chat with our players again  just to remind them of what they can and can’t do. The First Minister has come out and been very strong on this and I believe the government are going to speak to the managers and captains of each club to remind us of our responsibilities.

“Not just the season, but life in general is fragile. Aberdeen is back in lockdown, and we just have to be careful that we don’t go back to a complete shutdown as well. It’s a fine balancing act.

“Aberdeen will probably come under a bit of criticism as a club but the players have made a mistake and now one of them has tested positive for the virus. I hope he recovers well but it’s a lesson for everyone.

“We’re due to play them at Parkhead next weekend but I know those eight players will need to isolate for 14 days. A postponement would be the last thing we need because the fixture list is congested enough as it is but it’s a fine balancing act.

“Our players now know they can’t bring friends or relatives over from Belgium or other countries. That can’t happen any longer because then they would need to quarantine along with those people.

“It’s another example we’ve had to stress to our squad – if your family is abroad then you just can’t have visits from them at the minute. It’s as simple as that.

“We’ve told our players and staff that, from now on, it’s training ground, home and games – and that’s the way it has to be. We’ve come so far and everyone has worked so hard behind the scenes – the medical people and government people – to get the game up and running.

“It would be such a shame and really sore if we had to close it down again, so we really have to be on our guard from now on, at least in the short term.”

Asked how Rangers had reacted to the news of Aberdeen's difficulties, Steven Gerrad said: “We’ve reacted accordingly and we’ve already sat down with the players and reminded them of their responsibilities.We did that on Friday morning before we left Germany.

“We do it quite regularly, but obviously there have been some developments while we were away so it does no harm to remind the players. It’s about making sure no one becomes complacent. We need to make sure that everyone is following the strict guidelines and the rules.

“We are doing everything we can to stay safe and play our part. The players all have to stay professional first of all and keep doing the right things. There could be a second wave, no one is really sure.

“So we need to keep following the advice and we are certainly doing that with our medical people. We have to keep our guard up and everyone at Rangers will try and play their part.

“Shutting things down again would not be ideal - just the thought of that hurts. We’ve all been through a lot but we’ve got football back and I think that’s been helpful for everyone.

“We all need to make sure we do all we can to keep the season moving along.”