Dyer bewildered over SPFL Covid-19 breach punishment

Alex Dyer expressed his bewilderment over the SPFL’s decision to punish Kilmarnock for Covid-19 breaches.

The Ayrshire club admitted breaching regulations and were punished with an automatic 3-0 defeat against Motherwell and a £40,000 fine, which was suspended until June 30 following an SPFL tribunal.

Kilmarnock expressed their anger with the punishment in an official club statement on Thursday and Dyer echoed that following Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Hamilton.

He said: “It has not been a good week for the club. The officials have decided to give the opposition three points. It doesn’t make sense to me when we are going through what we are going through. The whole world is going through a pandemic and the league has decided to come out at us a little bit when they should be protecting us.

“The club spent a lot of money putting in the right measurements and we have been slapped round the face this week. Down south big games were called off and all they say is they hope everyone gets well and we will rearrange the game. Everything is a drama.”

Dyer was dismayed by the governing body’s decision after claiming Kilmarnock attempted to follow all protocols amid difficult circumstances.

Dyer said: “We have tried our best. First it was one metre then it was two metres. A lot of things have happened behind the scenes but this inquiry has been a joke. It should never have happened in the first place.

“They are supposed to look after us and protect us and now they want to punish us.

“We don’t need to go down that route. People have lost jobs and lives. It is nothing to that. But we are trying to go in the right direction and do the right things. People sit up on their high chair and they give out punishments and no one comes back to them. It is easy for them.”

In Saturday’s match, Hamilton claimed a vital three points to climb off the bottom of the table thanks to Ross Callachan’s second-half penalty after Clevid Dikamona was sent off.

It was an eventful afternoon for Willie Collum but Accies manager Brian Rice believes the referee is one of the best in the business.

He said: “We have the most experienced referee in Scotland and probably the best referee in Scotland. He makes the decisions so we just get on with it.

“I didn’t really see the penalty decision. It happened that quickly. We have had penalty decisions go against us and red cards go against us.”