First Minister says 'virus doesn't care about the shape of the ball' in stadiums
The Scottish Government has been accused of giving rugby preferential treatment over football
Nicola Sturgeon has said Covid-19 “doesn't care about the shape of the ball” when asked about rugby fans returning to a live stadium game before football supporters.
Around 700 spectators will be allowed into Murrayfield as a trial event on Friday when Edinburgh host Glasgow Warriors.
However a request to have some fans in the stadium for Celtic's home match against Motherwell on Sunday was rejected by the Scottish Government.
The First Minister was asked by MFR News whether rugby supporters were receiving preferential treatment at the daily coronavirus briefing on Thursday.
She denied this was the case, saying: “Of course I understand the frustrations many people in many different walks of life are feeling right now because life isn't normal and we're all really anxious to get life back to normal.
“But let me just be clear what we're doing here with these trial events with spectators back in stadiums.
“We're not trialling how it works with rugby versus football.
“I'll let you into a wee secret here, the virus doesn't care about the shape of the ball at these events.
“What we are testing is how we can operate in a stadium with spectators and maintain with all the physical distancing and other hygiene rules.”
She said any knowledge from the Murrayfield event would be applied to future sporting fixtures.
The First Minister added: “It's not about preferring rugby over football or football over rugby or any other sport, it's just about trying to keep people as safe as possible.”
September 14 has been set as an “indicative date” for the reopening of stadiums in Scotland.
A Scottish Government spokesman said earlier: “We recognise there is disappointment that the proposal for a pilot on August 30 has not been approved but we are looking for suitable alternative dates for football pilots.
“We need to allow sufficient time for any test events to be informed by learning from other events - in particular the rugby match at Murrayfield on August 28.”
Hear all the latest news from across the North of Scotland on MFR. Listen on FM, via our Rayo app, DAB, or smart speaker.