Scottish football’s plan to bring back fans has been left hanging in the balance after the Scottish Government stopped short of giving it the green light over the weekend.
Record Sport first revealed on Wednesday that the game’s Joint Response Group had informed clubs to prepare for a return to full capacity in time for the re-start of the top flight on January 17.
And the move was subsequently confirmed by the SPFL who insisted that scientific data proves the lives of supporters won’t be put at risk by bringing back full capacity crowds, despite the soaring Omicron infections rate.
But we understand league chiefs gave now been informed that the First Minister is still to make a final decision on whether or not the national game should be allowed to throw the gates open.
And now cash strapped clubs face an anxious wait over the next 48 hours before discovering if Holyrood will be prepared to rubber-stamp the return of supporters - with Nicola Sturgeon expected to provide a further update on current emergency restrictions to parliament on Tuesday.
That’s less than one week before the Premiership campaign begins again when Celtic take on Hibs at Parkhead - with a further five games to follow 24 hours later.
This round of fixtures was originally scheduled to take place before the New Year but had to be hurriedly rearranged following the government’s decision to limit crowds to a maximum of 500 - a hard-line edict which led to the winter break being brought forward by a fortnight.
The Boxing Day fixture list did go ahead effectively behind closed doors and frustration then grew over the festive period as English football was allowed to continue in front of sell-out crowds.
Some Scottish clubs have even explored the possibility of moving games south of the border if the fan ban is not lifted any time soon.
But the SFA and SPFL believe there is no reason that the Scottish restrictions will not be lifted in line with the original timescale of midnight on January 16.
