Livingston FC hit out at claims of coronavirus breach after team meal at Tony Macaroni in Aberdeen

The team ate at this branch of Tony Macaroni, which was closed to the public.

Police are investigating the matter after the team bus was spotted outside a branch of the restaurant chain while the Lothians side were in Aberdeen to face the Dons.The Italian food chain is currently a sponsor of the West Lothian club.

But the team has now hit back, saying they are “deeply disappointed”, and that previous advice had indicated it was permitted.

However, the statement added that the team had now been told that clubs would now no longer be permitted to use restaurants or hotels for pre-match meals.

The statement said: “We have been made aware of complaints that were made in relation to our pre-match meal at Tony Macaroni and a subsequent ‘investigation’ into these events.

"We are deeply disappointed about this ‘investigation’ and the way this alleged covid19 breach has been portrayed in the media, considering we had the authorities’ written approval to use Tony Macaroni restaurants for our pre-match meals.

"The Tony Macaroni restaurants are closed and we have the use of the full restaurant to comply with social distancing measures and we were assured that all restaurants were sanitised deeply pre and post use.”

Livingston FC say they initially sought guidance on legislation regarding a possible exemption for “any suitable premises that are used for the purposes of professional sport”.

The statement continued: “We followed up on this guidance on the January 12, 2021 and explicitly informed the Scottish FA of our desire to use Tony Macaroni for our pre-match meals moving forward and questioned whether this exemption in legislation would allow us to do so. The Scottish FA replied to our query confirming that they have ‘received confirmation that the advice still stands from a legislative perspective even though we are in a national lockdown’. Thus meaning, all relevant authorities were fully aware of the club using a Tony Macaroni restaurant’s for our pre-match meals.

“Today, we received an update from the SFA/JRG stating that this will no longer be possible.

"This new guidance will prevent all clubs from using restaurants and hotels for pre-match meals, unless staying overnight, where they would class as residents.

"We are sure this new guidance will come as quite the shock to a number of football clubs who have been utilising hotels for pre-match meals.

“We will be making no further comment on the matter and welcome any investigation into the alleged breach.”

A Police Scotland spokesperson confirmed an investigation is underway: "We were made aware of a football team present within a restaurant in the city centre on Tuesday, 2 February, 2021.

"We're conducting enquiries to establish if any coronavirus restrictions were breached."

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We are aware of this incident and have discussed it with Police Scotland and local authority representatives. We have reminded the football authorities of the obligations and restrictions on clubs at this time.”