ALLOWING football fans back into grounds should not come at the expense of larger numbers of Covid-19 cases, hospital admissions or even deaths, according to Scotland’s national clinical director.

Professor Jason Leitch spoke about the issue at the Scottish Government’s coronavirus briefing yesterday after a football governing body appealed to the First Minister to let fans return to games.

Neil Doncaster, the chief executive of the Scottish Professional Football League, made the plea on behalf of the country’s 42 professional clubs – warning they could face a “death knell” if supporters continue to be unable to attend games.

He argued that football clubs in Scotland “have been hit far harder by the lockout than those in England because we depend much more heavily on gate receipts”.

Leitch said while England has announced a “route back for fans” in some tiers after its lockdown, there is some “mixed opinion” among public health experts about the move.

“We are cautious but we have a route back for fans,” he said.

“The route back for fans is lower levels (of Covid-19) and lower levels rely on prevalence in the community.

“That doesn’t mean that we don’t engage in dialogue and the minister for sport, officials, clinical leaders, me, others who work with me are very happy to continue to engage with the football authorities.”

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He continued: “But it is a risk-based choice. We understand the nature of the football business and we need to both support that financially but also support it to get that revenue back for them. But not at the expense of prevalence, hospital admissions and death.

“And that is the same conversation we have with every sector, whether it is oil and gas, or nightclubs or sport.”

Doncaster, who has asked for an emergency meeting with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, said: “Every major club in Scotland has very detailed, well-founded plans in place for safely returning fans back to stadiums, and thousands upon thousands of Scottish fans are simply desperate to get back quickly to watching their teams in the safety of a carefully managed environment.

“We are now calling on the First Minister to do the right thing by Scotland’s football supporters.”

The UK Government has announced plans for up to 4000 spectators to attend some matches after the English lockdown comes to an end in December.

Sturgeon accepted that things are “difficult for football” but added the pandemic makes life “difficult for lots of people right now”.

She said: “We do have a situation in Scotland where fans are allowed back into stadiums in level 1 areas, we have seen Ross County had fans back in the stadium.

“The emphasis has to be in how we strike the balance that keeps people as safe as possible.”