Celtic have faced a barrage of flak and the SFA are now attracting criticism over their handling of the situation
Ally McCoist has accused Celtic of shooting themselves in the foot by travelling to Dubai for what proved to be a controversial trip.
Shortly after losing 1-0 to Rangers at Ibrox, Celtic players and backroom staff set off for the UAE.
Fans, pundits and politicians heaped scorn on the journey, which was undertaken at the height of the pandemic.
Within 48 hours of their arrival First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had announced tighter restrictions, and before the team could kick another ball in a competitive match it was confirmed that defender Christopher Jullien had tested positive.
13 players in total were required to self-isolate, with manager Neil Lennon and his assistant John Kennedy also self-isolating.
That left coach Gavin Strachan in charge for Monday night’s match against Hibs, with a depleted lineup held to a 1-1 draw thanks to Kevin Nisbet’s injury-time equaliser.
Rangers legend McCoist was unimpressed with Celtic’s decision, and has criticised the SFA’s handling of the situation.
Speaking on talkSPORT, McCoist said: “Honest to God, it’s carnage. It’s chaos. Absolute chaos.
“Celtic are all over the place. 13 players, three staff self-isolating.
“Nicola Sturgeon is having a go at them saying it’s not right. Ian Maxwell from the SFA came out and for some reason tried to defend it, which was horrendous to listen to.
“The whole thing is carnage. They’ve completely and utterly shot themselves in the foot by going ahead with this trip. I don’t know for the life of me who thought it would be a good idea at this time.
“They go there normally and I absolutely get it. Training in a bit of sun at that time of the year and that’s the normal thing to do, but anybody with any common sense would look at the situation round about and just say ‘No, we need to pull the plug on this, we need to pull the plug’.
“I thought the SFA let themselves down as well yesterday.
“People can’t visit families. Grans and Grandads haven’t seen their grandchildrens for a long, long time and someone thinks it’s a good idea to go?
“Then they go over, and the first thing that happens – as you’d expect – is photographs of them come out sitting at the pool drinking beer.
“I don’t know what the SFA are going to do. The SFA have come out and said there’s no case to answer, they didn’t do anything wrong.
“But earlier on in the season they’ve banned Aberdeen players for doing the same thing. They’ve banned St Mirren or Kilmarnock players for sitting next to each other on the bus.
“The double standards. It’s just a shambles to tell you the truth.”
The draw against Hibs leaves Celtic 21 points behind Rangers in the title race, with three games in hand.
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