The Scottish FA Board have held discussions regarding the current suspension of training and matches in Scotland in light of the recent Scottish Government announcement which detailed an easing of some restrictions for sport.
The Board is pleased to announce a partial lifting of training restrictions from Monday 13 July onwards as follows:
Players 18 years and over are allowed to resume physically distanced training sessions. The participants in each session must be from no more than five different households with a maximum of 15 people. There can be no player-to-player contact and all involved must remain physically distant from each other before, during and after each session.
Clubs are required to keep attendance records for each session to assist with tracing protocols.
It is expected that the number of teams who can meet the criteria allowing 15 participants will be limited. For teams with no players from the same household, they will require to train in groups of five adults – for example four players plus one coach or five players.
For the avoidance of doubt, there has been no change to the suspension of matches, including friendly matches.
All affiliated clubs and groups should ensure they have read, understood and implemented all the appropriate protocols before making a return to training. This should include the appointment of a COVID-19 co-ordinator who should that ensure that all relevant club personnel are aware of the updated first aid protocols.
To reiterate, the suspension on competitions, friendly matches, festivals and events will remain in place until further guidance permits this next step to be taken.
It should also be noted that, at this time, access to facilities may be challenging for clubs and we ask for your continued patience as local authorities and leisure trusts put in place plans to fully reopen outdoor pitches and facilities.
We urge all clubs to utilise the resources and guidelines now available on the Return to Football Hub. This will allow clubs to plan in conjunction with committees, coaches, parents and players to make sure everyone is aware of their role in ensuring the return to training is safe and continues to promote public health guidelines.
The football family have played a huge part in staying patient following the public health guidelines that have been in place throughout the football shutdown. As we start to see the removal on restrictions, we ask that all affiliated clubs and groups continue to support and follow these new guidelines. We all aim to see the next stage in the return to football arrive in the near future.
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
