Despite the lunchtime message from the First Minister there are no plans in place to cancel any sporting events in Scotland next week.
Speaking in Holyrood earlier today Nicola Sturgeon advised that ‘mass gatherings of over 500 people’ would halt next week which would greatly impact Scottish football- after Sunday’s Glasgow derby.
Next Saturday Celtic are scheduled to host St Johnstone with Scotland facing Israel in a Euro 2020 Play Off Semi-Final five days later.
Over 100,000 fans have got tickets to attend both matches but as of tonight both of those fixtures are scheduled to go ahead.
BBC Scotland reports:
There are no plans to postpone football matches as of yet, despite the Scottish government advising gatherings of more than 500 people should be cancelled.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said this should be enacted from next week to free up emergency services to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.
Rangers’ Europa League match with Bayer Leverkusen at Ibrox on Thursday is set to go ahead as planned, as is a full fixture list of SPFL games this weekend, including Sunday’s Old Firm derby.
Scotland’s Six Nations encounter with Wales in Cardiff on Saturday is also still scheduled to go ahead.
It’s believed that there are no devolved powers that can ban gatherings of over 500 people.
This week’s UEFA competitions have been hampered by postponements and matches being played behind closed doors. Next Tuesday UEFA will host a video conference call to review the impact of Coronavirus.
