Celtic is one of the clubs which has taken the global health emergency most seriously.
We have invested in a testing machine and, as I pointed out by highlighting the club’s video last week, they have put in place some extremely complex measures to make sure that the players and staff are as safe as can be and that the risk is minimised.
That risk cannot be eliminated though, and we’ve been well aware of that from the start.
The news today that an Aberdeen player has tested positive is not in the least bit surprising considering the steady drumbeat of bad news from up there at the current time.
Celtic can do all that’s in their power, but what happens elsewhere we simply cannot control.
We must be watching events around the country in dismay, and especially when we’re due to play Aberdeen in only a few weeks.
What’s the protocol here?
Does the entire Aberdeen squad need to quarantine or what? All will definitely have to be tested, and re-tested and tested again. Everyone at the club will.
Will their game at the weekend now be cancelled?
There are so many things that could go wrong with this whole scenario that I wonder if the football season will be completed without major disruption.
This season is going to be chaotic. UEFA regulations, published just the other day, show how even if we do everything right and follow every rule and don’t let this thing get near the inside of Celtic Park that we may still be penalised for matters out of our control.
It will be even worse if the season has to be halted at any time; if we’re top of the table accusations will fly that we don’t want the campaign to continue, and if we’re not there will be an almighty clamour in Sevconia and elsewhere to bring the curtain down early with the “precedent” having been set in the last campaign.
At Parkhead they must be dreading it all.
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