Report – Decision reached on Rangers clash v Celtic amid Coronavirus fears
There are no plans for Sunday’s Old Firm clash between Rangers and Celtic to be played behind closed doors, according to The Scottish Sun.
Fears have grown about the possibility of Scottish Premiership matches being held in empty stadiums as measures are taken to try and arrest the spread of Coronavirus across the United Kingdom.
At the time of writing, five more cases of the virus had been confirmed in Scotland, raising the national total to 23.
The repot states that sports chiefs and broadcasters met with the government at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport in London for crisis talks today.
But while there is a growing expectation that English Premier League matches will have to played without fans in attendance in the coming weeks, Scottish authorities are said to be operating on a policy of business as usual until they are advised otherwise.
As such, Sunday’s clash at Ibrox is due to go ahead as planned.
What does this all mean?
In the short term, from a supporter’s perspective, this is obviously good news.
Nobody wants to see the Old Firm played behind closed doors.
The atmosphere of the historic clash is what makes it so special, and to rob it of that backdrop would also rob it of most of its spectacle.
That being said, if we reach a point between now and the end of the season whereby the authorities deem it too much of threat to conduct matches in the usual fashion, that decision has to be respected.
The priority always has to be public health, even if that comes at the cost of major sporting events.
Hopefully it doesn’t come to that, and for now, we should be thankful that Sunday’s derby will go ahead as planned.
In other Rangers news, Ibrox View: Rarely seen Gers player squandered golden opportunity to usurp teammate on Sunday.