Scotland v Israel in Nations League could be test event with fans
- Published
Scotland face Israel home and away in this year's Nations League either side of the teams' Euro 2020 play-off semi-final
Scotland's Nations League opener with Israel in September will be in front of fans if attempts to have it approved as a test event are successful.
Scottish FA chief executive Ian Maxwell has spoken to the Scottish Government about having a crowd at the tie - which is played a month before the nations meet in the Euro 2020 play-off semis.
The association faces losing £3m of revenue if fans do not return soon.
However, Maxwell says fans could be in Hampden for the Scottish Cup ties.
The semi-finals - in which Celtic meet Aberdeen and Hibernian face Hearts - will now take place on 31 October and 1 November, with the final on 20 December.
"The Scottish Government has shown a clear willingness to get fans back when it's safe to do so," Maxwell said.
"You would like to think that given the [cup] games are a fairly significant length of time away, we will be able to see supporters in. What numbers they are, we don't know.
"Everyone is very keen to get as many supporters in as possible, so if we can get some in for the semi-final at the end of October, you would think by the final, those numbers will have increased."
On the 4 September meeting with Israel, Maxwell said his organisation were "definitely looking at it in the test environment".
However, he could not anticipate how many supporters would be allowed to attend in the event of approval being granted.
"We will get that number as high as we can but there is just so much uncertainty around it," he said.
On the wider issue of readying grounds for the return of spectators, Maxwell added: "Stadiums are very specific. A test event at Celtic Park, for example, doesn't tell you too much about how other stadiums across Scotland will work.
"It's probably more important that each stadium is having test events - and we are very keen to get them kicked off as soon as we can."
Maxwell explained that the projected £3m loss was based on the four home internationals scheduled for this year as well as the final stages of last season's Scottish Cup all being played behind closed doors.