Hampden chiefs want urgent talks with the government after Jason Leitch gave the green light for Scottish stadiums to be packed again by August.
Record Sport understands Ian Maxwell is seeking clear guidance from Holyrood this week following national clinical director Leitch’s shock revelation yesterday that grounds could be back to housing capacity crowds from August 9.
Leitch’s announcement has surprised the game’s governing bodies, who have had no indication that the turnstiles can fully open up again in time for the start of the new campaign.
Celtic chief executive Dominic McKay revealed on Friday that he had held positive discussions with politicians on supporters being allowed to return to Parkhead.
And Leitch confirmed that in an interview on the BBC Sunday Show which has given massive hope to fans.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon recently unveiled plans for Scottish ‘Freedom Day’ on August 9 when it is hoped that all major Covid-19 restrictions will be lifted.
The date has been pushed back three weeks to allow more people to be vaccinated.
And if that goes to plan then games on the weekend of August 14-15 – when the Premier Sports Cup second round is scheduled to take place – could be played in front of capacity crowds.
Fans have been locked out of grounds since the country went into lockdown in March 2020 but around 12,000 fans have attended three Euro 2020 fixtures at Hampden over the past fortnight.
Two involved Scotland, the 2-0 and 3-1 Group D defeats to the Czech Republic and Croatia, along with the 1-1 draw between the Czechs and the Croats, who both qualified for the knockout stages while Steve Clarke’s men were KO’d.
A similar crowd is expected for the Sweden v Ukraine last-16 tie there tomorrow night which will decide the last team to make the quarter-finals of the tournament.
SFA chief executive Maxwell admitted the return of fans to domestic games would always hinge on that “gateway event”.
Asked if football stadiums will be full after August 9, Leitch said on the BBC: “Yes, they can on August 10th.
“But we’ve had to learn that new word, that indicative word.
“So we have given advice that with a fair wind the trajectory we are presently on with vaccinations, remember, we are vaccinating 300,000 people every 10 days so that’s a lot of vaccine and this six weeks buys us quite a lot of vaccine time.
“If people come and that’s the important thing people can do then, yes, we hope August 9 and 10 can happen.
“On August 9, the level system disappears, unless, for instance, there were particular hotspots or the country didn’t do what we hope it will do.
“Maybe vaccinations slow down for some reason. It’s a bit indicative, then on August 9 physical distancing is removed and the limits on event sizes are removed.”
