Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Aberdeen’s players “overtly breached the rules” ahead of Saturday’s Scottish Premier League game against St. Johnstone.
Two players who tested positive for Covid-19 and six others are self-isolating after being “in close proximity” on Saturday at a bar in Aberdeen.
Sturgeon said she was “pretty angry” about the situation.
It is not yet clear whether Aberdeen will be sanctioned according to the league rules.
They will host Hamilton Academical on Wednesday and travel to Celtic the following Saturday.
Saturday’s game at McDiarmid Park was part of the second weekend of the Premiership Games after the Coronavirus pandemic stopped last season.
At first, it looked as if the game would continue in Perth, although Aberdeen was forced to drop out on Thursday and the prospect was without eight squad members forced to isolate.
However, the postponement was made at the request of the Scottish government after a meeting between the Minister for Public Health and Sports Joe Fitzpatrick, the Scottish Association and the Scottish Professional Football League.
“I think that’s the right decision,” said Sturgeon. “We expect the public to act extremely cautiously at the moment, and if a football club ends up with players infected with Covid – and let’s remember that this is not bad luck but a clear violation of the rules – we can not this. ” Take even the slight risk of spreading the infection to other parts of the country. “
Sturgeon said the Scottish government would contact all clubs to highlight the importance of adhering to the guidelines and hoped that “lessons were learned”.
“Football has received permission on the strict condition that clubs and players adhere to the agreed guidelines. If they do not do so, they will jeopardize the return of the professional game,” she said. “To say that this incident is deeply unfortunate is an understatement.
“I’m pretty angry about this situation because it shouldn’t have happened. If these instructions are not followed, all bets will be void.”
St. Johnstone was disappointed with the move, but stressed that “the health and well-being of everyone is paramount in this situation.”
All eight Aberdeen players were in a bar linked to the city’s Covid-19 spike on Saturday after losing to Rangers on matchday one.
One of the first cases was confirmed by a subsequent NHS test, and the other player is waiting for further results.
Both are asymptomatic, but self-isolating along with six players who were “in close proximity”.
In a social media post on Friday, Aberdeen’s chairman, Cormack, called for “patience” with the players concerned, adding that everyone is “prone to misjudgment” and “it’s about how we respond to something from.” we wish it hadn’t happened “.
