Updated: Aberdeen match postponed after positive virus tests

Aberdeen’s trip to face St Johnstone in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday has been postponed after two players from the visiting team tested positive for coronavirus.

The Scottish government and football authorities had agreed on Thursday that the game should go ahead as planned but that decision has been reversed.

“This weekend’s Scottish Premiership fixture against Aberdeen at McDiarmid Park has been postponed,” St Johnstone said in a statement.

“The club is disappointed at the news of this postponement but the health and wellbeing of everybody is of paramount importance in this situation.”

It comes after Scottish ministers accused Aberdeen players of putting the return of football at risk following a “clear breach” of coronavirus protocols.

The Scottish football authorities were summoned to a meeting by sports minister Joe Fitzpatrick on Friday after eight Dons players were instructed to self-isolate for up to two weeks.

Reports say all eight were in a bar in Aberdeen on Saturday after their team’s 1-0 loss to Rangers, which was the first competitive Scottish football match since mid-March.

Stricter lockdown was reimposed in the city this week following an outbreak linked to pubs and bars — 79 cases had been identified by Thursday with dozens more potential cases under investigation.

“The Scottish government is disappointed by the actions of these individuals who have put at risk the return of professional football in Scotland,” a spokesman said. 

“This was a clear breach of the rules that were put in place by the SFA (Scottish Football Association), the SPFL (Scottish Professional Football League) and the Scottish government.”

The spokesman added that officials would also be meeting with all club captains and managers to emphasise the guidelines.

Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack, speaking before the postponement, described the situation as “a bitter blow” and promised the club would carry out a full investigation.