The eight Aberdeen players who broke lockdown rules have made a public apology.
The club released a statement this afternoon attributed to Jonny Hayes, Michael Devlin, Scott McKenna, Matty Kennedy, Sam Cosgrove, Dylan McGeouch, Craig Bryson and Bruce Anderson.
Two Dons players tested positive for Covid-19 and six are self-isolating after visiting an Aberdeen bar on Saturday, just hours after losing 1-0 at home against Rangers on the opening day of the Scottish Premiership season.
The players were heavily criticised by first minister Nicola Sturgeon who said she was “furious” at the players after they “blatantly broke the rules”.
The Dons’ scheduled Scottish Premiership match against St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park, due to be shown live on Sky Sports, was postponed at the request of the Scottish Government on Friday. The game has been rearranged for August 20.
Aberdeen are due to host Hamilton Accies on Wednesday before visiting Celtic on Saturday.
The statement released by the eight players read: “First and foremost we would like to apologise to every AFC fan, the manager, everyone at the club, the football authorities, the First Minister, all healthcare workers along with everyone else that has worked tirelessly around the clock to get the country, and in particular football, back up and running again.
“We, as a small group of players, made a huge error of judgement last weekend by thinking it was ok to visit a city centre venue together.
“None of us could have foreseen the escalation of Covid-19 cases in the Grampian area, nor did we deliberately attempt to flaunt or disobey Government guidelines which we all must adhere to, or indeed the clear guidelines set out by the club.
“This was by no means a team night out as has been portrayed and while we attempted to comply with Government social distancing guidelines, we now recognise that our group of 8 exceeded the number of households permitted to meet up. This was a genuine error on our part as professional football players, and in doing so, we have let our manager down.
“As players we appreciate our club has gone above and beyond to put protocols in place to protect us and it was never our intention to put that those jeopardy, or to put our teammates or football staff at risk.
“As a player group, we once again apologise unreservedly to the fans, the manager, the board and all the staff at the club.
“Jonny, Michael, Scott, Matty, Sam, Dylan, Craig, Bruce.”