Celtic and Aberdeen games off after coronavirus breaches

Aberdeen and Celtic’s matches in the Scottish Premiership over the next week have been postponed.

The joint response group has confirmed both teams’ respective fixtures against Hamilton and St Mirren on Wednesday, as well as their match against one another on Saturday, will not go ahead.

It comes after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the teams should not expect to play in the coming week.

Celtic defender Boli Bolingoli breached quarantine rules by travelling to Spain and failing to self-isolate for 14 days on his return.

And two Aberdeen players have already tested positive for Covid-19 after visiting a bar with six teammates.

Sturgeon said at the Scottish Government’s daily briefing: “As a minimum you should not be expecting to see Aberdeen or Celtic play over the course of the coming week.”

Speaking on Scottish football, she added: “Consider today the yellow card, the next time it will be the red card because you will leave us with absolutely no choice.”

Sturgeon said Bolingoli “flagrantly” breached the guidelines by not self-isolating when he returned from Spain.

The club and the player himself have apologised, while the eight Aberdeen players in question did so for their own behaviour in a statement on Saturday.

The SPFL has agreed to introduce a player education programme as it tries to prevent further rule breaks.

The body will also put in place punitive measures that can be implemented so it can directly take action against players in the event of other breaches.

Sturgeon said she does not want the season to be in jeopardy, adding she wants players to live up to their responsibilities.

She said: “This is just not acceptable. Every day I stand here and ask members of the public to make huge sacrifices in how they live their lives and the vast majority of members of the public are doing that and it’s not easy.

“We can’t have privileged football players just deciding they’re not going to bother. This can’t go on.

“I want to get to a situation here where clubs and players live up to their responsibilities.

“I don’t want the price of this to be paid by fans who want to watch football, even though they can’t go as normal to spectate in stadiums, and I don’t want the price of this to be paid by football players and clubs who are living up to their responsibilities.”

Commenting on the incident Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said: “After months of lockdown, it’s been great to get back out on the pitch.

“It would be a crying shame if everyone in Scotland – both those watching on television and people just glad to see some football up and running again – missed out on our national game because of the utterly reckless actions of a few individuals.

“Some professional players in Scotland need to wise up and take a lot more responsibility for their actions before they ruin it for everyone.”