Scottish Premiership sides have voted to bring back the winter break next season in the wake of Celtic’s ill-fated trip to Dubai.
A two-week winter shutdown to take effect from January 8 in 2022 will see clubs granted permission to jet off for a warm weather camp or rest players before resuming league action later in the month.
The pause was first introduced back in 1998, but was then scrapped in 2003 before being readopted almost 15 years later.
It was eradicated completely this season in an effort to overcome a crowded fixture list caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, however that did not stop Neil Lennon and Celtic making use of a few days to fly to a luxury resort in the gulf state for a short period of training.
It forced a fixture against Hibernian to be pushed back by more than 48 hours to a Monday evening despite the protestations of the Edinburgh club.
Worse was to follow however as images emerging from the trip showed players socialising without maintaining social distancing or mask-wearing protocols, earning condemnation from Scottish football and Holyrood chiefs.
Almost the full squad was then forced to self-isolate on their return after defender Christopher Jullien tested positive for the disease - despite being injured at the time of the trip.
It meant a skeleton team took on Hibs and Livingston without then-manager Lennon in the dugout.
The Scottish Daily Mail reported nine of the 12 Premiership clubs backed the proposals in a vote earlier this week
