Aberdeen eight 'already punished' before Scottish FA hearing
- Published
Jonny Hayes is one of the eight Aberdeen players facing an Scottish FA disciplinary hearing
The eight Aberdeen players who broke quarantine rules have been "publicly humiliated" after being guilty only of "naivety" says manager Derek McInnes.
Bruce Anderson, Craig Bryson, Sam Cosgrove, Michael Devlin, Jonny Hayes, Matthew Kennedy, Dylan McGeouch and Scott McKenna met in a bar on 1 August.
Two tested positive for Covid-19 and three Aberdeen games were postponed.
They face a Scottish FA hearing at 16:00 BST on Friday and McInnes says they "have been punished" already.
All eight will have their cases heard separately, as will Celtic's Boli Bolingoli, who visited Spain then did not isolate prior to playing as a substitute against Kilmarnock days later.
"My players were guilty of nothing other than naivety," said McInnes after Aberdeen's 6-0 Europa League first qualifying round win over NSI Runavik.
"There was nobody going out there and thinking they were above the rules.
"My players have been publicly humiliated by far too many people making comment on them, having their say and not letting it go. They've been fined by the club. We'll take what comes."
Aberdeen and Celtic face an SPFL investigation over the protocol breaches, although there is no indication when an outcome will be reached on that.
"The boys have made a mistake," added McInnes of his players. "The whole country, not just my players, have been making mistakes left, right and centre."