Kilmarnock and St Mirren hit with Premiership defeats over coronavirus breaches

SPFL propose expanding Premiership to 14 teams
(Image credit: Andrew Milligan)

Kilmarnock and St Mirren have both been consigned to Scottish Premiership defeats after being found guilty of breaches of coronavirus protocols.

Motherwell have been awarded 3-0 wins over both sides and Hamilton have been handed a 3-0 victory over St Mirren after positive Covid-19 tests caused three games to be postponed.

St Mirren and Killie were the subject of disciplinary hearings in front of a sub-committee of the Scottish Professional Football League board, chaired by an independent senior solicitor and involving a sheriff “highly experienced in sports disputes”.

An SPFL statement declared that Kilmarnock’s breaches included a failure of physical distancing on a coach and during a pre-match meal.

St Mirren admitted the same breaches plus “failing to provide suitable facilities to enable players to observe physical distancing at training and also accepted that players had been car sharing to and from training”.

Both clubs were also handed suspended £40,000 fines.

St Mirren stated they were “disappointed” with the outcome of the SPFL disciplinary hearing.

A statement added: “The club operated honestly throughout the whole process and will review its position before issuing a further response.”

Kilmarnock said in a brief statement: “The club is bitterly disappointed by the outcome of the SPFL disciplinary case. We are in discussions with our legal representatives and will make further comment in due course.”