Kilmarnock could forfeit three games due to coronavirus outbreak

| 03 October 2020

Kilmarnock could forfeit three games due to coronavirus outbreak

Their entire first-team squad has been instructed to self-isolate following six positive Covid-19 cases.

Kilmarnock could be set to forfeit three matches following their coronavirus outbreak.

Killie’s Scottish Premiership clash with Motherwell was postponed at the Ayrshire club’s request on Friday after their entire first-team squad were instructed to self-isolate by health officials following six positive Covid-19 cases.

The Scottish Professional Football League launched an investigation and chief executive Neil Doncaster confirmed it could lead to Motherwell being awarded the points.

The league had little option but to postpone the game as available players need to submit a negative test two days before a fixture.

Doncaster told BBC Radio Scotland’s Sportsound: “Clearly, it’s very concerning that you have six positives within one club.

“That’s something we need to investigate in conjunction with the health authorities, because the protocols in place are designed to ensure there shouldn’t be transmission within a club.

“Where we’ve had positives elsewhere this season, on the whole the games have gone on universally. The exceptions were the Aberdeen and Celtic games but that ultimately was a government decision.

“If there are found to be concerns, that would go to a disciplinary in front of a sub-committee of the SPFL board, which has broadly unlimited powers to impose a sanction.

“We hope very much that all protocols have been followed. We’ll keep an open mind.”

Killie are due to face Falkirk and Dunfermline in the Betfred Cup in the course of the next 10 days, with a decision due on Monday on whether they will be able to play. The SPFL can award the points to Killie’s opposition in that competition.

Meanwhile, Scottish Football Association vice-president Mike Mulraney has claimed the Scottish Government’s ongoing ban on spectators at sports events is a “political decision”.

Mulraney added on Sportsound: “I think it is driven by science, but do you think that sitting one metre away from somebody eating in a restaurant has less risk than sitting two metres away from someone in a stadium with a mask on?”

Doncaster added: “The UK government does not allow fans into Premier League or EFL grounds in the fresh air. But the Royal Albert Hall has now been allowed to admit 57 per cent of capacity in an indoor venue.

“Anybody who tells me that is not a political choice, I’m sorry I don’t accept that.”

The interpretation was rejected by Scotland’s national clinical director, Jason Leitch.

“It’s absolutely not a political decision, he’s incorrect,” Professor Leitch told BBC Scotland.

“It’s a choice made by the clinicians and then the decision-makers choose. You simply cannot re-open everything.”