Celtic are being made to sweat as they wait to discover if 20,000 fans will be allowed into next week’s Champions League showdown with Midtjylland.
Record Sport first revealed on Tuesday that Parkhead chief executive Dominic McKay had lodged a special request with the authorities asking them to green light an extra 18,000 supporters for Tuesday night’s qualification crunch after the government announced that crowds of up to 2,000 can return from next week.
McKay had hoped to be given an answer yesterday but we understand the club were still waiting for a definitive answer late on Thursday night - with only five days left before the Danes make the trip to Glasgow’s East End.
Sources at the club say they now expect a decision to be delivered in the next 24 hours and while McKay is more than confident that thorough Covid provisions can be made in order to keep all fans safe, there are growing concerns over what has been described as a complete lack of guidance from the Scottish government.
The First Minister announced new relaxations to the country’s coronavirus restrictions on Tuesday, including the return of limited crowds, but stressed that special applications could be made to increase capacity inside’s Scotland’s grounds.
However, it’s understood Holyrood has washed its hands of overseeing the process and instructed that each application should be decided by relevant local authorities instead.
That means Celtic have been left waiting for a thumbs up from Glasgow City Council - while Aberdeen ’s request to have 5,655 punters inside Pittodrie for next week’s Europa Conference League qualifier against Hacken on Thursday will be considered by bosses at Aberdeen City Council.
One source close to the discussions told us last night: “The lack of guidance from the government when it comes to approving increased crowds has created a bit of a vacuum.
“Local authorities are nervous about being left to make the decision on their own so it’s no great surprise that Celtic are waiting longer than expected for an answer.”
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