Thirteen Celtic staff, including manager Neil Lennon, have been forced to self-isolate following a COVID-19 outbreak at Parkhead.
The news comes following the club’s controversial trip to Dubai, in which the senior squad was pictured boozing by the pool last week despite the ongoing pandemic.
The pictures caused an uproar in Scottish Football circles as well as prompting First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to question the SFA for allowing the trip to go ahead in parliament.
It was determined, however bizarrely, that the trip was sanctioned by the SFA itself before Celtic jetted off to the Middle-East.
Celtic released a statement in response which read: “Celtic Football Club confirmed today that Christopher Jullien has tested positive for Covid-19 and is self-isolating at home. We wish Christopher a speedy recovery.
“While all of the other members of the squad and backroom team have tested negative, we have been informed by the authorities that, having been deemed ‘close contacts’, Celtic manager Neil Lennon, assistant John Kennedy and 13 first-team players will be required to self-isolate on a precautionary basis as required by the current regulations.
“Clearly we are hugely disappointed, as we know our supporters will be. The contacts were identified during the period from Wednesday last week, primarily around flight and team coach travel, during which time Celtic applied the same rigorous protocols used for pre-season training camps, UEFA match travel and for all domestic match arrangements in Scotland.
“The reality is that a case could well have occurred had the team remained in Scotland, as other cases have done in Scottish football and across UK sport in the past week.”
Tonight’s game between Celtic and Hibernian is still scheduled to go ahead – however The Hoop’s will no doubt face selection issues ahead of the clash with their fellow league rivals.
The match is available to watch via Sky Sports or Celtic TV.
Second year student at University of Stirling studying Sport and Journalism.
