FORMER SFA chief executive Gordon Smith says that clubs should be docked points when their players breach Covid-19 guidelines following the postponement of fixtures involving Aberdeen and Celtic this week.
Two Aberdeen players tested positive for coronavirus and a further six were forced to self-isolate after a night out in the city following the Dons’ opening-day defeat to Rangers at Pittodrie.
Celtic manager Neil Lennon called upon his players to be ‘standard bearers’ for the country in their behaviour following that incident, but his own player Boli Bolingoli had already flown to Spain for a short break without Lennon’s knowledge, failing to disclose the trip to his club. He subsequently took part in Sunday’s match against Kilmarnock despite a requirement to quarantine for 14 days upon returning to the UK.
That has left Bolingoli’s Celtic career hanging by a thread, with a furious Lennon saying he will accept whatever punishment the club chooses to hand down to his player.
The breaches led to Aberdeen’s match against Hamilton and Celtic’s game against St Mirren - both scheduled for last night - to be postponed, while Saturday’s fixture between Celtic and Aberdeen has also been put back to a later date.
The SPFL are reportedly set to introduce measures to punish individual players for such offences, but Smith believes that the gravity of the transgressions should mean that the clubs themselves should be brought to book in order to provide a suitable deterrent for such behaviour.
"These players have put the Scottish game in jeopardy," Smith told BBC Sport Scotland.
"I think it is [heading for another lockdown] unless they realise the problems they are bringing.
"But what the SPFL should be saying to the clubs now is, in future if games have to be postponed because of players' actions in relation to Covid-19, the points should be given to the opposition."
Meanwhile, Celtic’s home fixture against Motherwell has also been pushed back 24 hours as the Fir Park side are in Europa League action against either Glentoran of Northern Ireland or HB Torshavn of the Faroe Islands on the previous Thursday night.
That means the game at Celtic Park will now take place on Sunday, 30th August, potentially allowing Rangers to open up an 11-point gap on their city rivals by the time the Motherwell match takes place.
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