-
Celtic and Aberdeen
The authorities will be wishing they'd specified in advance what the 'coronavirus' sanctions would be. I don't know how they're going to handle this fairly. Suspend the culprits for, say, four games? Celtic wouldn't miss their guy; Aberdeen's squad would be massively weakened. The clubs are charged as well; so, for example, they may be fined, thereby setting a tariff by precedent. It's hard to avoid thinking that there'll be other breaches of protocol during the season. A fine, the amount of which would be big enough to send a message to Aberdeen and Celtic, would, if they were hit with the same punishment, be the end of the road for some clubs.
Deduct points / forfeit points? Not a chance! Last season was bad enough; imagine the rammy if the title and / or relegation was decided on a points deduction or a club given a buckshee three points without kicking a ball.
Anybody who tried that would be well advised to leave the country and head for one of the few remaining places we can go to.
Good luck, Hampden.
-
Anyone from the outside would say they should have done it in advance but the SPFL is the clubs and the clubs would never voluntarily risk imposing a harsh punishment on themselves.
Fines as a percentage of end of season prize money and Celtic forfeiting the game at Killie would seem as fair as it could get for me.
-
Perhaps any game that requires postponement due to such breaches could be established at the re-arranged date to be considered for exhibition only for the club on the wrong side. This would mean no points will be gained from the match unless they are earned by the opposition club assuming no offense on their part.
Apply this equally throughout the season to all affected matches.
-
Regardless of whether there should've been pre-assessed sanctions put in place, or 'business-style' Risk Assessments done, does anyone really think Godfather Lawell will accept a 3 point reduction? Don't see that happening ... but don't disagree it could be a solution.