Plans for spectators at Scottish Open placed in doubt

European Tour ‘in discussions’ with Scottish Government over fan plans
Martin Dempster
By Martin Dempster
Published 23rd Sep 2020, 07:30 BST
European Tour officials are talking to the Scottish Government about the plan to have 650 fans on the Saturday and Sunday in next week's Standard Investments Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club. Picture: Getty ImagesEuropean Tour officials are talking to the Scottish Government about the plan to have 650 fans on the Saturday and Sunday in next week's Standard Investments Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club. Picture: Getty Images
European Tour officials are talking to the Scottish Government about the plan to have 650 fans on the Saturday and Sunday in next week's Standard Investments Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club. Picture: Getty Images

Organisers of next week's Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open in East Lothian are waiting to hear if they can press ahead with plans for it to be a crowd test event.

The proposal, which was only announced last Friday, has been placed in doubt after yesterday's tightening up of Covid-19 restrictions by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

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It had been agreed by the Scottish Government that 650 spectators per day would be in attendance next Saturday and Sunday at the Rolex Series event at The Renaissance Club.

That followed test events in other sports in Scotland. Around 700 socially-distanced fans were admitted to the Guinness Pro14 rugby match between Edinburgh and Glasgow at BT Murrayfield last month. In football, 300 supporters attended Scottish Premiership matches hosted by Aberdeen and Ross County, against Kilmarnock and Ross County respectively.

However, it has now been decided that further test events in football and rugby have been put on hold and a U-turn could also be on the cards for golf.

A spokesperson for the European Tour told The Scotsman: “Discussions are ongoing with the Scottish Government and we will provide any update in due course.”

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Related topics:OrganisersScottish GovernmentEast LothianScotlandCovid-19

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