Fans not permitted to attend Scottish Cup final after spike in COVID cases in Glasgow
By Max Parsons
Just 24 hours after granting permission for a limited number of fans to attend the Scottish Cup final on May 22, the Scottish government have made a U-turn and will not allow spectators at the event.
The decision has been made as a reaction to the spike in Covid-19 cases in Glasgow and concern over the Indian variant in the city's south side - where Hampden Park is located.
After initially applying for 2000 fans to attend the final between St. Johnstone and Hibernian, the Scottish FA were only granted 600 places due to ongoing construction work - in preparation for next month's European Championships - in the stadium, reducing its original capacity.
Following today’s Scottish Government announcement that Glasgow will remain under level three Covid restrictions for at least another week, the Scottish government have subsequently confirmed that fans will now not be permitted to attend the Scottish Cup Final.#ScottishCup pic.twitter.com/53Ct0V1IkQ
— Scottish Cup (@ScottishCup) May 14, 2021
However, according to the BBC, due to concern over Covid-19, Glasgow will now not be moved down to Level 2 restrictions. This means that the social distancing rule will stay at 2m rather than change to 1.5m and, as a result, fans will not be permitted to attend the event.
There had been suggestions of relocating the final to cater for supporters, with Edinburgh's Murrayfields an option. However, the Scottish Rugby Union have said that the venue is not able to host the final due to its continued Pro14 Rainbow Cup commitments. Aberdeen's Pittodrie was another potential venue to be mentioned.
With the announcement of Hampden Park being off limits to fans on May 22, there have also been concerns over the stadium's status as a host venue for the rescheduled Euro 2020. Scotland's national stadium is scheduled to host three group stage matches next month - two of which will see Scotland in action.
Each host city must ensure that its stadia can commit at least a third of its capacity to spectators for its host status to remain. But Scotland's national clinical director, Professor Leitch, is 'confident' that this hiccup will not prevent Hampden Park from hosting those fixtures.
He told BBC Scotland: "It's far enough away that I'm hopeful we'll be in a good place by then. But it needs a public health response, it needs people to step up and people to be really, really careful."