SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell has confirmed photographs from Celtic’s disastrous trip to Dubai are being probed by Hampden bosses.
Maxwell spoke out after announcing that all football outside of the top two tiers of the SPFL has been placed in coronavirus lockdown for at least three weeks - following another warning shot fired by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
The FM called again for the SFA to launch an investigation into the champions’ winter training camp during her daily covid briefing on Monday just as Celtic were confirming that 13 players and manager Neil Lennon have been ordered to self-isolate following a positive test for Christopher Jullien.
And, although Maxwell confirmed that the government approved Celtic’s plan to train in the United Arab Emirates, he admitted the governing body is looking into potential breaches of social distancing protocol which have been flagged up from the camp.
Maxwell said: “The permission to go was given by the Scottish Government. In terms of any alleged breaches that happened during their trip, you guys will be aware of the disciplinary process we have which is well used.
“We have a compliance officer who looks at all sorts of alleged breaches from all sorts of clubs over all sorts of alleged incidents.
“Everything we are made aware of goes through that process and it would be foolish to say we have not been made aware of issues potentially with Celtic being abroad
That will go through the process and it’s obviously not appropriate to comment on an ongoing issue. We will just see what happens from there.”
Asked if the FM’s repeated demands for an SFA probe has piled on pressure for a response Maxwell said: “No. But I think she’s right. Any breach of a rule or a Covid breach is up to the governing body to be involved in.
“That’s not for the Government - they don’t micro-manage Scottish football. Nicola Sturgeon has more than enough to do without worrying about the idiosyncrasies within Scottish football.
“So I don’t feel under pressure about it at all. She’s absolutely right. If there’s breaches of protocol it’s up to us as a governing body to deal with it. That’s what we have done previously and that’s what we will continue to do.”
But while Maxwell would not say if Celtic were likely to face an SFA charge he did concede that the club must be regretting the decision to travel across the globe during a pandemic.
Maxwell said: “There are two sides to it. There’s the fact that they went and was it right for them to go? Then was it the right decision to follow that through?
“From a permission perspective they asked in November through our competitions department, who are in touch with the Scottish government, if they could go to Dubai for a period of time.
“We all know football. If clubs have done something that’s successful then they want to continue to do that. So I can understand why from a preparation perspective why they wanted to go.
Maxwell spoke out after announcing that all football outside of the top two tiers of the SPFL has been placed in coronavirus lockdown for at least three weeks - following another warning shot fired by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
The FM called again for the SFA to launch an investigation into the champions’ winter training camp during her daily covid briefing on Monday just as Celtic were confirming that 13 players and manager Neil Lennon have been ordered to self-isolate following a positive test for Christopher Jullien.
And, although Maxwell confirmed that the government approved Celtic’s plan to train in the United Arab Emirates, he admitted the governing body is looking into potential breaches of social distancing protocol which have been flagged up from the camp.
Maxwell said: “The permission to go was given by the Scottish Government. In terms of any alleged breaches that happened during their trip, you guys will be aware of the disciplinary process we have which is well used.
“We have a compliance officer who looks at all sorts of alleged breaches from all sorts of clubs over all sorts of alleged incidents.
“Everything we are made aware of goes through that process and it would be foolish to say we have not been made aware of issues potentially with Celtic being abroad
That will go through the process and it’s obviously not appropriate to comment on an ongoing issue. We will just see what happens from there.”
Asked if the FM’s repeated demands for an SFA probe has piled on pressure for a response Maxwell said: “No. But I think she’s right. Any breach of a rule or a Covid breach is up to the governing body to be involved in.
“That’s not for the Government - they don’t micro-manage Scottish football. Nicola Sturgeon has more than enough to do without worrying about the idiosyncrasies within Scottish football.
“So I don’t feel under pressure about it at all. She’s absolutely right. If there’s breaches of protocol it’s up to us as a governing body to deal with it. That’s what we have done previously and that’s what we will continue to do.”
But while Maxwell would not say if Celtic were likely to face an SFA charge he did concede that the club must be regretting the decision to travel across the globe during a pandemic.
Maxwell said: “There are two sides to it. There’s the fact that they went and was it right for them to go? Then was it the right decision to follow that through?
“From a permission perspective they asked in November through our competitions department, who are in touch with the Scottish government, if they could go to Dubai for a period of time.
“We all know football. If clubs have done something that’s successful then they want to continue to do that. So I can understand why from a preparation perspective why they wanted to go.
