Hibs and St Johnstone fans face Hampden lock-out for cup final

Hibs and St Johnstone fans face being locked out of the Scottish Cup final after the Scottish Government announced that existing Covid restrictions in Glasgow would continue for at least a week with additional travel restrictions in place.

Talks are ongoing between the Scottish FA and the government in the hope that a solution can be found to allow spectators when the teams meet at Hampden.

Negotiations between the SFA, UEFA and the government in the past few days had seen agreement reached for each of the finalists to have 300 fans in attendance at the game on May 22.

Clubs were finalising their plans to distribute the tickets to supporters but there will now be no prospect of fans travelling from Edinburgh or Perth to the national stadium.

While the rest of Scotland will see restrictions eased from Monday as Covid figures fall across the country, the government made an exception for Moray and the city of Glasgow due to high numbers in those areas.

Rising numbers of positive tests in Glasgow’s south side, where Hampden is located, means that the city is being kept at level three, with a review of the situation to take place next week. At level three, spectators are not normally permitted to attend sporting events and travel from level two areas is not allowed.

Even if numbers in the area fall, allowing Glasgow to follow the rest of the country into more relaxed guidelines, that wouldn’t take effect until after the final.

A Hampden spokesperson told STV: “The Scottish FA is aware of the new restrictions and is in dialogue with the Scottish Government.”