Celtic criticised by Scottish minister for going ahead with training trip to Dubai amid coronavirus pandemic
Club said the training camp was arranged months ago and approved by the government
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Your support makes all the difference.Celtic’s training camp in Dubai has been criticised by Scotland’s Deputy First Minister John Swinney, who urged the Scottish Premier League champions to show more leadership amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Celtic travelled to the United Arab Emirates on Saturday following their 1-0 defeat at Rangers, a result that left Neil Lennon’s second-placed side 19 points behind their “Old Firm” rivals with three games in hand.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Swinney told the BBC about Celtic’s trip to Dubai. “I don’t think it’s a particularly great example to set.
“When we’re asking members of the public to take on very significant restrictions on the way in which they live their lives... we have all got to demonstrate leadership on this particular question.”
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Scotland entered a national lockdown on Monday night in a bid to reduce the spread of Covid-19.
British media reported that the Scottish government expects the country’s Football Association to investigate Celtic's trip and could stop teams going abroad for European matches if travel exemptions are abused.
However, Celtic said the training camp was arranged months ago and approved by relevant soccer authorities as well as the government through the Joint Response Group on 12 November.
“The team travelled prior to any new lockdown being in place, to a location exempt from travel restrictions. The camp, the same one as we have undertaken for a number of years has been fully risk assessed,” a Celtic spokesman told the BBC.
“If the club hadn’t received Scottish Government approval then we would not have travelled.”
Reuters
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