The Scottish FA withdrew referee Bobby Madden from this evening’s Scottish Premiership match between Ross County and Celtic after he was identified as a close contact of a positive Covid-19 case.
Madden was one of three Scottish match officials in charge of the derby match between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos in Athens last Sunday.
The SFA have also apologised to Hibernian and Hamilton after another assistant referee, who travelled to Greece and is now self-isolating, was one of the officials at yesterday’s match at Easter Road.
The Scottish FA said the appointments “were requested by UEFA and organised and arranged by the Greek FA, in compliance with UEFA’s COVID-19 protocols and including the relevant testing regime.”
Upon returning to Scotland, assistant referee David Roome was retested on Tuesday evening and returned a positive test on Wednesday. Two negative tests had been undertaken on the Friday and Saturday prior to the match.
Madden and the other assistant, Graeme Stewart, returned a further two negative tests this week since returning, in addition to the UEFA required tests.
But, upon further investigation by the Scottish FA’s medical consultant, Madden and Stewart were considered close contacts under Scottish Government regulations.
Stewart was an assistant referee at yesterday’s Premiership match between Hibernian and Hamilton Accies.
A Scottish FA statement said: “We have informed both clubs as part of a review of process initiated today and Dr MacLean has informed the Elite Sports Clinical Advisory Group.
“No players or members of team staff involved in yesterday’s match have been identified as close contacts of Graeme.
“As a result, all three match officials must now undertake 10 days of self-isolation dated from Monday 15 February, as the date of last contact for Bobby and Graeme, and from Tuesday 16, the date of the positive test for David.”
‘I have tonight apologised to Hibernian and Hamilton’
Ian Maxwell, the Scottish FA chief executive, has consulted with the referee operations department and the chief medical consultant to seek clarity on the breakdown in internal process.
“While the circumstances are complex the reality is that under Scottish Government guidelines all match officials involved in the trip should be considered close contacts,” he said.
“I have reiterated that the positive case and subsequent contact tracing should have been undertaken in line with the Scottish Government’s guidelines and the established system utilised by ESCAG.
“I have tonight apologised to Hibernian and Hamilton Academical for the unnecessary risk of having an assistant referee at a match when he should have been self-isolating, however much it is mitigated by two negative tests in the build-up to the match.
“As part of an internal review, I have asked the respective departments to ensure we maintain the highest standards of compliance relevant to Scottish Government protocols.”
