Aberdeen: Eight who broke lockdown rules issue apology
- Published
Aberdeen players 'full of regret' over pub visit - McInnes
Aberdeen players who broke lockdown rules by going to a bar have apologised for a "huge error of judgement".
The eight players are Bruce Anderson, Craig Bryson, Sam Cosgrove, Michael Devlin, Jonny Hayes, Matthew Kennedy, Dylan McGeouch and Scott McKenna.
Two tested positive for Covid-19 and six are self-isolating after coming into "close proximity" last Saturday.
The Dons' Scottish Premiership match at St Johnstone on Saturday was postponed as a result.
"We once again apologise unreservedly," the eight players said in a joint statement.
"We, as a small group of players, made a huge error of judgement last weekend by thinking it was OK to visit a city centre venue together.
"None of us could have foreseen the escalation of Covid-19 cases in the Grampian area."
The players said they did not "deliberately attempt to flaunt or disobey government guidelines, which we all must adhere to, nor indeed the clear guidelines set out by the club".
"This was by no means a team night out as has been portrayed," the statement added.
"While we attempted to comply with government social distancing guidelines, we now recognise our group of eight exceeded the number of households permitted to meet up.
"This was a genuine error on our part as professional football players, and in doing so, we have let our manager down."
Nicola Sturgeon says Aberdeen players 'blatantly' broke the rules on coronavirus
Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon described herself as "pretty furious", adding that the eight players "blatantly broke the rules".
"We are expecting members of the public to behave in a highly precautionary manner right now and, when a football club ends up with players infected with Covid - and let's remember this is not through bad luck but through clear breaches of the rules - we cannot take even the small risk that they spread the infection to other parts of the country," she added.
A meeting between club managers, team captains and national clinical director Jason Leitch will take place on Monday.