St Mirren and Kilmarnock to appeal SPFL forfeit decision

St Mirren and Kilmarnock are to fight against the SPFL decision to make them forfeit games, and are raising appeals with the Scottish FA.

The league body announced last week that the clubs had been found guilty of breaching coronavirus protocols when they suffered outbreaks that caused them to postpone Premiership games.

St Mirren were forced to call off matches against Motherwell and Hamilton, while Kilmarnock missed one league game, also against Motherwell.

An SPFL disciplinary panel ruled that the clubs had failed to maintain social distancing rules on coaches and at pre-match meals, with St Mirren also cited for “failing to provide suitable facilities to enable players to observe physical distancing at training” and it was also accepted that players had been car sharing to and from training.

The punishment for the rule breaches was a fine, suspended until the end of the season, and the forfeit of postponed games by a 3-0 scoreline.

The clubs are now going to the Scottish FA to appeal the decisions, with the governing body responsible for convening an independent panel to rule on the dispute.

A brief statement on the St Mirren website read: “St Mirren Football Club can today confirm that it will be appealing the decision of the SPFL tribunal on Thursday, December 3.

“The club is unable to make any further comment on this matter until the proceedings are complete, at which point we will update our supporters.”