Over the past few days, there has been a lot of discussions regarding the Glasgow Derby next week at Celtic Park and whether it will be on or not.
After some positive talks, it looks like it could be going ahead as planned at this stage.
As reported by the Herald Scotland, government minister Mairi Gougeon revealed a meeting between both clubs, the Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council and Police Scotland were ‘positive’ as they attempted to work out a plan not to call-off the fixture.
“This was a positive meeting which we called to address the need for fans to stay at home during the upcoming fixture on March 21.
“The reason we have allowed elite football to proceed is as much for the benefit of supporters as for those working in professional sport.
“Everyone is being deprived of so much right now – and making so many sacrifices – that the ability to watch a football game safely at home on television should be something that people should have the ability to do.
“But a minority cannot be allowed to act irresponsibly. We want to send out a very clear message that all fans must stay at home – there will be opportunities to come together to celebrate safely, collectively in due course.
“Clubs have a leading role to play in reaching out to their supporters and communicating the vital message that fans and supporters need to stay at home. I welcome that both clubs have agreed to reinforce that message.
“We still face a very real threat from the highly transmissible new variant and cannot risk people’s health at this time, when we are at the very cusp of easing some restrictions.”
The scenes last week and also the previous congregation of Celtic fans outside both Parkhead and Hampden have led to concern from the Scottish Government. At one point it was even threatened that the fixture was ‘hanging by a thread’.
There is of course still a chance that the game will be postponed as everyone will know by now, things change on a daily basis during this pandemic.
However, with these positive talks, it appears a solution has been found for the game to take place a week on Sunday.
