Ross County to be limited to 500 fans inside Global Energy Stadium in Dingwall for Scottish Premiership fixtures against Motherwell and Aberdeen
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New government guidance will limit Ross County to just 500 fans inside the Global Energy Stadium for forthcoming Scottish Premiership matches.
The surge in cases because of the omicron variant has led to some calls for sport to be shut down for a spell, while others are desperate for sport to continue as far as possible.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon addressed parliament this afternoon and announced that some measures would return from December 26, including a cap on the numbers allowed in stadia and one metre social distancing in the stands.
It is not as severe as the steps taken in other parts of the UK, with all sporting events in Wales to be played behind closed doors from Sunday.
However, it will still come as a blow to clubs who have already taken financial hits because of the pandemic to be faced with this new blow that will restrict matchday income after Christmas for up to three weeks.
The First Minister said: "This will, of course, make sports matches including football effectively spectator-free over this three week period, a situation similar to that in Wales, from Boxing Day.
"I know how disappointing this will be for those looking forward to these events, and for the organisers of them, but I want to underline why we think this difficult decision is necessary.
"Firstly, we know that the much higher transmissability of omicron means that large gatherings have the potential to become very rapid super-spreader events, putting large numbers at risk of getting infected very quickly.
"Limiting these events can help reduce the risk of widespread transmission, and it also cuts down the risk involved with the travel to and from such events.
"Secondly, and this is not an insignificant point, these events put an additional burden on emergency services, especially the police and ambulance services.
"At a time when these services are already under severe pressure, and often dealing with high staff absences, limiting large scale events will help them to focus on delivering essential services to the public."
Ross County are away from home tomorrow night against St Johnstone and again on Boxing Day against Hearts, but they return to Dingwall next week for matches against Motherwell and Aberdeen before their two-week winter break in January.
