Aberdeen FC were charged with breaching SPFL Regulations in respect of matters arising from the activities of eight of their players in Aberdeen city centre on the night of 1 August 2020. Celtic FC were charged in respect of the activities of their player Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo, who travelled to Spain and failed to quarantine on his return to Scotland on 4 August 2020.
Both clubs offered substantial evidence in mitigation.
Aberdeen FC were fined £30,000, of which £8,000 is payable to the SPFL Trust within 28 days, with the remainder suspended pending any future material breach by Aberdeen FC of SPFL Covid-19 Regulations prior to the last day of Season 2020/21.
Celtic FC were also fined £30,000, of which £8,000 is payable to the SPFL Trust within 28 days, with the remainder suspended pending any future material breach by Celtic FC of SPFL Covid-19 Regulations prior to the last day of Season 2020/21.
A spokesman for the SPFL said: “Aberdeen FC and Celtic FC demonstrated that they had gone to enormous lengths to ensure that their players adhered to all relevant requirements and protocols relating to Covid-19.
“However, the requirement of individual players to adhere to their clubs’ carefully-designed protocols is a matter of personal and professional responsibility on the part of those players.
“That the players involved ignored the strict and comprehensive requirements set down by Scottish Football, by their clubs and by the Scottish Government, is obviously a serious issue, but given the lengths to which the clubs had gone in each case to seek to ensure compliance by its players, the SPFL Board sub-committee suspended the majority of the fines imposed.
“The fact that adherence to social distancing and other regulations has been assiduous in the intervening period is obviously something we welcome, and we congratulate players, staff and officials for taking a leading role on these important issues.”
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