As the furore of Celtic’s Dubai trip continues, stories are emerging the the SFA Compliance Officer is set to investigate the infamous Celtic “covid pictures”.
The SFA Chief Executive Ian Maxwell, has said that even although the trip was sanctioned by the Scottish Government, the footballing governing body will be investigating the alleged breaches of social distancing protocols on the Dubau trip.
Maxwell, speaking to the Scottish media, said, “The permission to go was given by the Scottish Government. In terms of any alleged breaches that happened during their trip, you guys will be aware of the disciplinary process we have which is well used.
“We have a compliance officer who looks at all sorts of alleged breaches from all sorts of clubs over all sorts of alleged incidents.
“Everything we are made aware of goes through that process and it would be foolish to say we have not been made aware of issues potentially with Celtic being abroad.
“That will go through the process and it’s obviously not appropriate to comment on an ongoing issue. We will just see what happens from there.”
Maxwell also denied that the investigation was not initiated by any Scottish Government pressure as he added, “No. But I think she’s right. Any breach of a rule or a Covid breach is up to the governing body to be involved in.
“That’s not for the Government – they don’t micro-manage Scottish football. Nicola Sturgeon has more than enough to do without worrying about the idiosyncrasies within Scottish football.
‘So I don’t feel under pressure about it at all. She’s absolutely right. If there’s breaches of protocol it’s up to us as a governing body to deal with it. That’s what we have done previously and that’s what we will continue to do.”
The Chief Executive failed to say if Celtic would face a charge if any breaches of protocol where found.