Aberdeen have dealt with the eight who broke Covid-19 protocols and Scottish Government guidelines.
Now both the Dons and their octet must face the music after being hauled before the SFA and the SPFL.
A week has passed since news of Jonny Hayes, Scott McKenna, Sam Cosgrove, Craig Bryson, Bruce Anderson, Dylan McGeouch, Matty Kennedy and Mikey Devlin’s trip into Aberdeen city centre became public knowledge.
That was the least of their worries, however, as the development of two of them testing positive for the coronavirus meant an ill-judged trip into town had taken a worrying turn.
What has followed has been a challenging but unsurprising series of developments for all concerned.
A very public flogging from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been followed by public ridicule, widespread condemnation, a club investigation and fines from their club.
No wonder they all were feeling remorseful.
The only respite in this sorry mess came from Celtic Park earlier this week when it was revealed Boli Bolingoli, the Hoops player, had used the time inbetween the Dons visit to Soul on Union Street and the positive tests becoming public, to take impromptu trip to Spain without his club’s knowledge only to return and feature off the bench in the 1-1 draw at Kilmarnock on Sunday.
The only saving grace for his decision, which trumped that of the Aberdeen players, was that he not tested positive himself after a rapid trip to a country which is on Scotland’s 14-day quarantine list.
Celtic are furious and the condemnation from manager Neil Lennon was as swift as it was vicious. You don’t need the SQA to revise your exam results to reach the conclusion the defender’s days at Celtic Park are numbered as a result of his jolly.
The two incidents have left Scottish football on the precipice. Sturgeon herself regarded the breaches as yellow-card worthy and the inference was clear – any more of this nonsense and I’m taking your ball away.
Both the Dons and the league champions have been idle since these developments came to light and it will be next week before either side gets the chance to play again.
But still the aftershocks of these sorry episodes are rumbling on with the joint response group, a working party with representation from both the SFA and SPFL, revising their rules to include covid-19 protocols within them.
The result of that is a nervous wait for all nine players and the two clubs.
For the players, August 28 is their new date with destiny as they have been hauled before the SFA’s disciplinary tribunal.
They’ve breached disciplinary rule 24 which states “a recognised football body, club, official, team official or other member of team staff, player, match official or other person under the jurisdiction of the Scottish FA shall be subject to and shall comply with the articles, the laws of the game and the rules, procedures and regulations, bye-laws and decisions of the Scottish FA.
They’ve also had another rule breach thrown at them in the form of disciplinary rule 71 which states “no recognised football body, club, official, team official or other member of team staff, player, match official, or other person under the jurisdiction of the Scottish FA shall bring the game into disrepute.”
In Bolingoli’s case, there’s a good chance he will not be a Celtic player by the time any punishment is handed out but the players at Pittodrie will not be so lucky.
At best a warning as to their conduct will be given but given the public furore it’s highly unlikely they will get off that easily. A ban for the lot of them will not be a surprise.
The SPFL have also waded in by opening disciplinary proceedings of their own against the clubs for alleged breaches of the SPFL’s Covid-19 requirements and testing regulation.
On the face of it the clubs are guilty of little more than trusting their players but it seems likely they will pay a price for those players’ indiscretions.
One thing is clear – this is not finished. Not by a long way.
