East Fife have been charged over their failure to fulfil Tuesday’s clash with Clyde – but boss Darren Young says it is “scandalous” his players were asked to play the game just minutes after learning of a positive Covid-19 test in the Bully Wee ranks.
Both teams were stripped and ready to go ahead of Tuesday’s Scottish League One clash at Broadwood when they were informed a member of Danny Lennon’s line-up had contracted coronavirus just moments before the scheduled 7pm kick-off.
With several of the East Fife players’ partners currently pregnant, Young’s squad decided they would not put their families at risk and refused to play.
But Clyde later released a statement insisting they had been given the all clear to kick-off by Scottish football’s Joint Response Group – adding: “East Fife took the decision not to fulfil the fixture, leaving the referee with no option but to postpone the match.”
Now the Scottish Professional Football League has announced they are opening disciplinary proceedings against the Methil outfit, with a Hampden hearing set for Thursday.
The league body said in a statement: “Following the call-off of the SPFL League 1 fixture between Clyde and East Fife last night, the SPFL has today (28 April) announced that disciplinary proceedings have commenced against East Fife for failing to fulfil the fixture.
“The disciplinary hearing will be held before a sub-committee of the board of the SPFL on Thursday April 29.”
But Young has already hit out at the handling of the situation.
The former Aberdeen ace is furious the East Fife squad were placed at “unnecessary risk” after they told the match could go ahead, even though the affected Clyde player had changed alongside his team-mates in the Broadwood changing room.
He posted on Twitter: “I feel it’s only right that I come out and clear up our decision not to play and put our players and staff at unnecessary risk.
“Firstly, I would like to wish the player involved a speedy recovery. A member of the Clyde team received a positive COVID result after being tested on Saturday with the results only coming back 30 minutes before the start of last night’s game.
“We only found this out as we took to the field to kick-off. By this point the player had already been in the changing room, done the warm-up and mixed with all the other players.
“He had also travelled up and down on the bus to Peterhead and played some part in that game (they had two buses with half the team on each bus).
“As a club we were asked the question if we wanted to play. To my knowledge the JRG weren’t consulted or spoken to unlike what is said in a certain statement.
“I consulted the players/chairman and straight away it was a complete no-no. Several of the players’ partners are heavily pregnant and quite rightly refused to put their families at risk.
“Several other boys are self-employed and were also unwilling to take the risk as if they were to isolate due to track and trace, they would then have loss of earnings along with being unable to play for us on Thursday or next Tuesday.
“I find it scandalous that all through the past year and a bit where safety and well-being of the players/staff etc is paramount, we were put in a position and asked if we wanted to or were willing to take that risk!
“We have adhered to all the rules and regulations throughout the period like everyone else and unfortunately now this is the second time it’s happened to us against Clyde this season.
“I one hundred per cent will always back my players especially when it comes to a situation where their health and well being are put on the line.”
