Coronavirus and the Scottish Championship

[craigkillie]

With schools set to go back, there will be a natural spike in infections and with the way Aberdeen have defied the SG's instruction to stay in bubbles I now think the idea that we will be able to have limited attendance in September (And therefore our games in October) is very much pie in the sky. Lucky if there's limited attendance by Christmas IMO.

The behaviour of football players should have absolutely no impact on the likelihood of crowds returning. This is supposed to be about protecting public health, not dishing out collective punishments to an industry.

The thing which might delay the return of fans is the fact there was an outbreak in Aberdeen linked to the hospitality industry, not the fact that a couple of footballers happened to be amongst the 80ish folk who were part of that outbreak.

[Ludo*1]

5 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

The behaviour of football players should have absolutely no impact on the likelihood of crowds returning. This is supposed to be about protecting public health, not dishing out collective punishments to an industry.

The thing which might delay the return of fans is the fact there was an outbreak in Aberdeen linked to the hospitality industry, not the fact that a couple of footballers happened to be amongst the 80ish folk who were part of that outbreak.

If there are further instances of the 'bubble' system being breached by club staff then the whole thing could be put on the back-burner. Lessons need to be learned through this incident.

[vikingTON]

6 hours ago, LeodhasXD said:

Is it not the point, though, that you can't play football while social distancing so you need to have more stringent protocol to even be allowed by the government to "ignore" the rules?

I'm with SD^. Footballers are going to be one of the most tested people in the country just now so if it's shown to spread via football it's not a stretch to see the government shut us all down. Especially if there's more folk like the Aberdeen players not following their agreed protocol for stopping any potential spread...

You can't run a school with up to 1000 weans inside all week in a socially distanced manner but that hasn't stopped the government battering ahead with that plan with no regular testing regime whatsoever. The idea that professional contact sport poses a greater risk of infection than half of the activities (especially businesses and organisations) that are now allowed to operate is nonsense. The protocol was set up during a nationwide lockdown as a way by which Scottish football could return in that specific context: it should (but might not yet) be treated as redundant for the situation we're in today.

Edited August 7, 2020 by vikingTON

[vikingTON]

5 hours ago, DiegoDiego said:

 

They're travelling for work so it absolutely is okay.

Travelling fully 100 miles for unnecessary work like playing a professional football game when people can't see their family round the other side street was never going to pass the smell test in the middle of a city-wide lockdown which is the political reason why it was called off. There'll be more of these postponements with further lockdowns, whether they're 'working' as per the letter of the law or not.

[DeeTillEhDeh]

^^^^ Tempting fate post


I speak from experience

Ditto for us.

[DeeTillEhDeh]

Why should professional footballers be held to any higher standard of behaviour in their downtime by the government than any other non key worker right now? It's not as if they're waltzing into care homes every day and passing it on: they have as much right to go to a restaurant or bar on a Saturday evening as anyone else.
I wouldn't focus on moralising about player's behaviour but rather on whether a completely non-essential activity like travelling to Perth to contest a football match conforms to the spirit of a local lockdown as well as the letter of the law. The government can't be seen to tell people to stay away from their nearby family members while giving a football team with active cases a free pass to travel all over the country and so I don't think this restart plan is going to hold up to many outbreaks at all.

Why should professional footballers be held to any higher standard of behaviour in their downtime by the government than any other non key worker right now? It's not as if they're waltzing into care homes every day and passing it on: they have as much right to go to a restaurant or bar on a Saturday evening as anyone else.

Have to agree with this.

The only reason for taking action would be if the players had ignored a club directive to not go to pubs - as far as I am aware that is not the case.

[Skyline Drifter]

31 minutes ago, DeeTillEhDeh said:

 

 

 

Have to agree with this.

The only reason for taking action would be if the players had ignored a club directive to not go to pubs - as far as I am aware that is not the case.

 

 

 

Well it is the case. The conditions on professional sport resuming before the public was that players were held to a higher behaviour standard and tested religiously. They still arent allowed to travel together unless they are flatmates and are supposed to remain in the family group when away from the club. They would only be allowed to go to the pub/restaurant with members of their own household and maintain social distancing from everyone else. They clearly did not do so.

Edited August 7, 2020 by Skyline Drifter

[Hammerafc]

You can't run a school with up to 1000 weans inside all week in a socially distanced manner but that hasn't stopped the government battering ahead with that plan with no regular testing regime whatsoever. The idea that professional contact sport poses a greater risk of infection than half of the activities (especially businesses and organisations) that are now allowed to operate is nonsense. The protocol was set up during a nationwide lockdown as a way by which Scottish football could return in that specific context: it should (but might not yet) be treated as redundant for the situation we're in today.

Under 12s haven't had to socially distance for quite a while now which was clearly a test for getting schools back full time as there was no spike associated with this easement.

[Monkey Tennis]

1 hour ago, Skyline Drifter said:

Well it is the case. The conditions on professional sport resuming before the public was that players were held to a higher behaviour standard and tested religiously. They still arent allowed to travel together unless they are flatmates and are supposed to remain in the family group when away from the club. They would only be allowed to go to the pub/restaurant with members of their own household and maintain social distancing from everyone else. They clearly did not do so.

That's interesting.

I'd assumed from the coverage today that pretty explicit conditions had been breached.  I hadn't seen them anywhere though. 

Bloody stupid behaviour from the players.  Even without the local outbreak and the testing, the fact that they were out and about so visibly, was likely to cause a problem.  

[Scary Bear]

1 hour ago, Skyline Drifter said:

Well it is the case. The conditions on professional sport resuming before the public was that players were held to a higher behaviour standard and tested religiously. They still arent allowed to travel together unless they are flatmates and are supposed to remain in the family group when away from the club. They would only be allowed to go to the pub/restaurant with members of their own household and maintain social distancing from everyone else. They clearly did not do so.

That’s a slam dunk then. Suspend those Aberdeen players for 10 games and deduct Aberdeen 10 points. Seems fair to me.

[Derry Alli]

5 hours ago, welshbairn said:

I'm pretty sure the conditions allowing elite team sports to start again are that they pretty well self isolate between training and matches, and restrict contact outside their team and family "bubble". Going to a busy Saturday night pub would be a clear breach whether they caught anything or not.

That's a load of shite in itself, unless their families are also having to agree to not going out. 

[Scary Bear]

On 06/08/2020 at 18:52, TxRover said:

Young men, COVID fatigue, plenty of people denying the severity of the virus and the simple fact that most U-25’s brains haven’t yet matured to properly process risks...what could possibly go wrong. Even the most successful counties with COVID had slips and errors, but they quickly adapted and corrected. It takes an effective enforcement procedure to keep sports running, and the costs involved are pretty huge...not sure fitba can afford it, but can we afford the opposite?

 

On 06/08/2020 at 21:19, virginton said:

There's nothing of substance in your post to address, you have simply posted complete and utter horseshit and then put 'fact' next to it like some stupid wifey on Facebook. It doesn't wash on here though. And I'm not under 25 but can confidently state from noth working with a lot of folk in that age group and from reading your 'contributions' on here that they are far better equipped to judge risk and indeed to carry out any other task in life than a braying old fud like yourself.

Better luck next time.  

 

I suspect the dynamic risk assessment carried out by the Aberdeen players wasn’t good. What age were they?

[welshbairn]

2 minutes ago, Mr. Alli said:

That's a load of shite in itself, unless their families are also having to agree to not going out. 

It's about minimising the risk of transmission, not ruling it out entirely, like all the other rules and advice.

[Skyline Drifter]

9 minutes ago, Mr. Alli said:

That's a load of shite in itself, unless their families are also having to agree to not going out. 

Whether it is or isnt "a load of shite" is neither here nor there. The fact is those are the rules and if elite sport cant or wont abide by them then it wont be allowed to start before the public can. Ignoring the requirements is in itself grounds for the Govt to consider withdrawing permission let alone actually catching it and participating in spreading an outbreak.

[vikingTON]

1 hour ago, Hammerafc said:

5 hours ago, virginton said:

You can't run a school with up to 1000 weans inside all week in a socially distanced manner but that hasn't stopped the government battering ahead with that plan with no regular testing regime whatsoever. The idea that professional contact sport poses a greater risk of infection than half of the activities (especially businesses and organisations) that are now allowed to operate is nonsense. The protocol was set up during a nationwide lockdown as a way by which Scottish football could return in that specific context: it should (but might not yet) be treated as redundant for the situation we're in today.

Under 12s haven't had to socially distance for quite a while now which was clearly a test for getting schools back full time as there was no spike associated with this easement.

Were they doing so indoors for 30 hours per week? If not then it isn't a credible test run.

[vikingTON]

1 hour ago, Skyline Drifter said:

Whether it is or isnt "a load of shite" is neither here nor there. The fact is those are the rules and if elite sport cant or wont abide by them then it wont be allowed to start before the public can. Ignoring the requirements is in itself grounds for the Govt to consider withdrawing permission let alone actually catching it and participating in spreading an outbreak.

'Start' what exactly? Have you been living under a rock siince April and not noticed that the public are free to do pretty much whatever they want? Almost every sector of the economy has now 'started': professional football is in fact now firmly towards the back of the queue.

The context in which this protocol was originally drawn up no longer applies and for all the moralising froth about who went where last weekend I very much doubt that a breach of the precious protocol influenced today's decision in any way whatsoever. Aberdeen is in Scotland's first citywide lockdown and the football club itself is a centre of that outbreak: the players could had got Covid just from going out to get the morning rolls and the same decision to not let them travel to Perth to play a fucking football game this weekend would have been taken on straightforward public health/political grounds. 

Edited August 7, 2020 by vikingTON

[Skyline Drifter]

1 hour ago, virginton said:

'Start' what exactly? Have you been living under a rock siince April and not noticed that the public are free to do pretty much whatever they want? Almost every sector of the economy has now 'started': professional football is in fact now firmly towards the back of the queue.

Er playing football. I'm sure with your keen observation skills you might just about have noticed the general public are not currently allowed to play organised football? They are allowed in very small groups to have a kickabout outside with a limited number of people but I cant organise 7 a sides on a proper pitch with mates yet because organised contact sport is not allowed. Elite sport is given an exemption on certain conditions. If they dont comply it will lose its exemption. Its that simple and it matters not what you or I think about it or whether we agree. Its where the Scottish Govt are on it that matters.

[Derry Alli]

15 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:

Er playing football. I'm sure with your keen observation skills you might just about have noticed the general public are not currently allowed to play organised football? They are allowed in very small groups to have a kickabout outside with a limited number of people but I cant organise 7 a sides on a proper pitch with mates yet because organised contact sport is not allowed. 

Have you walked by public parks? 

Full teams, of fully grown adults, are playing bounce games nearly every week night at parks in Dundee. 

[RandomGuy.]

3 minutes ago, Mr. Alli said:

Have you walked by public parks? 

Full teams, of fully grown adults, are playing bounce games nearly every week night at parks in Dundee. 

This.

Pitches up from me have both pitches being used every night, sometimes by four different teams.

Last weekend there was a full size, full contact, match that included spectators huddled together along one side.

[Skyline Drifter]

9 minutes ago, Mr. Alli said:

Have you walked by public parks? 

Full teams, of fully grown adults, are playing bounce games nearly every week night at parks in Dundee. 

Not the ones in Dundee I havent, no. Not seen any doing that in Dumfries.

Have you ever seen a motorway? Lots of full grown adults in cars driving at 90mph+

The fact that people do something and havent been caught / stopped doesnt make it legal or allowed. It isnt currently allowed.

Edited August 7, 2020 by Skyline Drifter