CELTIC and Aberdeen have been hit with £30,000 fines each by the SPFL for Covid-19 breaches.
Hampden bosses indicated £8,000 will be payable to the SPFL trust within 28 days while the remaining balance will be suspended pending any further coronavirus infringements by the clubs this season.
The penalty comes after eight Aberdeen players were quarantined after a night out in the city, while the Hoops’ errant Belgian left-back Boli Bolingoli landed a five-match SFA ban after failing to quarantine following a secret trip to Spain.
The defender later trained with his team-mates at Lennoxtown and made a cameo appearance in the 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on August 9.
He is now on loan in Turkey for the rest of the season and his career at the champions is in jeopardy.
An SPFL spokesman, as reported in the Scottish Sun, said: “Aberdeen FC and Celtic FC demonstrated that they had gone to enormous lengths to ensure that their players adhered to all relevant requirements and protocols relating to Covid-19.
“However, the requirement of individual players to adhere to their clubs’ carefully-designed protocols is a matter of personal and professional responsibility on the part of those players.
“That the players involved ignored the strict and comprehensive requirements set down by Scottish Football, by their clubs and by the Scottish Government, is obviously a serious issue, but given the lengths to which the clubs had gone in each case to seek to ensure compliance by its players, the SPFL Board sub-committee suspended the majority of the fines imposed.
“The fact that adherence to social distancing and other regulations has been assiduous in the intervening period is obviously something we welcome, and we congratulate players, staff and officials for taking a leading role on these important issues.”
Dave Cormack, the Pittodrie club’s chief executive, said: “It’s a fair outcome that demonstrates a common sense approach.
“The SPFL have recognised the enormous efforts we have made to develop and adhere to robust procedures and protocols.
“They have taken into account the measures we have since put in place to reinforce these with all our staff and players.
“The whole regrettable incident is now well and truly behind us.”
