GLASGOW CLAN and the other Scottish Elite League clubs will find out on September 15 whether a new season will go ahead.

The date was revealed by Cardiff Devils managing director Todd Kelman who is also one of the management board members, speaking on a Twitter Q&A on his club’s account as he addressed  rumours the cancellation of the season was imminent.

He did admit social distancing measures would not help the teams and their finances if they were to proceed with attendances greatly reduced.

“The Elite League Board have been working closely together since March on getting the 2020-21 season going,” he said. “We have weekly Zoom calls that all 10 teams are involved in and the vital date is September 15th when we will likely have to make a decision on the 2020-21 season.

“If the December start date doesn’t work, we’ll try our best to have some sort of hockey at some point even if it starts as late as February and runs to late June. I don’t think all teams would be up for that but some would want to try.

“We cannot play in a bubble. We cannot play with 200 or 500 spectators unless we had massive financial support from the government. Even at 50 per cent capacity, unless there was a realistic timeline to quickly get to 100 per cent capacity, teams would struggle to make it work.”

Cardiff and Manchester have revealed they have sent letters to players they have signed for 2020/21 to seek opportunities in the event there is further delay. It is understood Clan have inserted a "Covid clause" in the contract of their players signed already.

Dundee Stars have signed seven players and Fife Flyers have three on their books, but it remains unclear whether their players have the same clauses in their contract or been instructed to look elsewhere.

Dundee coach Omar Pacha would not reveal what contingencies they have in place, but said: “We have had communication with players and they are aware of the situation. The club has a plan in place for a season and no season as well so we can only share the information we know. We’ve grown the club dramatically in the last few years so it would be disappointing not to play, but if it happens, we’ll come back even stronger than ever.”

There has been no ice hockey since the lockdown measures in March, with the previous season incomplete and all 10 EIHL sides had to pay out to get players home at short notice, with some bringing flights forward a month because of the abruptness of the shutdown. A new season, should it go ahead, would be costly if a campaign were to start then be stopped again and could even put them at severe risk of going out of business.

The league pencilled in a September start, which was put back to December, but with time needed to bring players in through the complex visa procedures and obtain equipment, the league will now convene in a fortnight to decide what is to happen.