Eight Aberdeen players found to have breached lockdown protocols have been handed suspended three game bans.
A Scottish FA judicial panel ruled the suspension will be in place until February 28 next year and will only come into effect should they contravene the guidelines once again.
They were charged with breaching rules 24 and 71, which regards complying with the laws of the game and not bringing the game into disrepute. This means they will be free to face Hibernian at Easter Road on Sunday.
The Aberdeen players – Dylan McGeouch, Scott McKenna, Mikey Devlin, Bruce Anderson, Craig Bryson, Matty Kennedy, Sam Cosgrove and Jonny Hayes – went out after the 1-0 defeat to Rangers on the opening day of the season, to Soul in the city centre on August 1.
The rule regarding the number of households permitted to meet together (four) was exceeded, which came just days before fresh lockdown measures were reimposed on the city.
Two of the players subsequently tested posted for Covid-19, amid a clustered outbreak of the virus within the Granite City. They all self-isolated but came under heavy criticism from the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who warned the future of the Scottish season was in doubt if breaches became commonplace.
It forced their games against St Johnstone, Hamilton Accies and Celtic to be postponed, with the Hoops game also thrown into jeopardy by the actions of their defender Boli Bolingoli. He took a midweek trip to Spain without informing his club, did not quarantine on return before training and then played in the game against Kilmarnock.
The Dons fined the eight players and donated the monies to NHS Grampian. Chairman Dave Cormack urged the chastising of the players to stop, while manager Derek McInnes said after the 6-0 win over Runavik the group had been “dragged through the mud” in the wake of the incident.
Hayes conducted an interview with the Dons’ in-house media channel RedTV, apologising for the breaches and insisting it was not done intentionally.