Coronavirus-hit Aberdeen's game against St Johnstone has been postponed following a U-turn from the Scottish government.
Saturday’s Scottish Premiership clash is off after two Aberdeen players tested positive for Covid-19 and a further six were instructed to self-isolate for 14 days after coming into close contact.
Reports claim all eight were in a bar in Aberdeen on Saturday night after their team's 1-0 defeat by Rangers, which was the first competitive Scottish football match since mid-March.
Stricter lockdown restrictions were reimposed in the city on Wednesday following an outbreak linked to pubs and bars – 79 cases had been identified by Thursday with dozens more potential cases under investigation.
The Scottish government accused Aberdeen players of putting the return of football at risk following a "clear breach" of coronavirus protocols but stopped short of postponing the game following talks on Thursday night.
However, that decision was reversed on Friday morning.
St Johnstone made the announcement, saying: "This weekend’s Scottish Premiership fixture against Aberdeen at McDiarmid Park has been postponed.
"The club is disappointed at the news of this postponement but the health and wellbeing of everybody is of paramount importance in this situation."
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A statement from the Scottish football authorities' Joint Response Group added: "Following a meeting this morning between the minister for public health, sport and wellbeing, Joe Fitzpatrick, the Scottish FA chief executive, Ian Maxwell, and the chief executive of the SPFL, Neil Doncaster, to further examine the circumstances around the self-isolation of eight Aberdeen FC players, a request was received from Scottish Government – and agreement reached – to postpone Saturday's Scottish Premiership match against St Johnstone.
"There is an evolving public health outbreak in Aberdeen and the minister conveyed the need for additional work to provide further assurance around Aberdeen FC’s adherence to the agreed protocols.
"Given the overriding responsibility to public health, the subsequent advice and discussion with the minister this morning means that the Joint Response Group must adhere to the request to postpone the match."
