Celtic: How Dubai trip unravelled for Scottish champions
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Nicola Sturgeon says exemption from quarantine travel requirements for elite sport are to be reviewed
It was supposed to be training time in the sun to revive Celtic's 10-in-a-row bid, but their winter camp in Dubai has added further gloom to an already turbulent season.
Christopher Jullien's positive test on the squad's return from the United Arab Emirates has forced 13 of his team-mates into isolation, along with manager Neil Lennon and his assistant John Kennedy.
It means their squad will be depleted when they host Hibernian on Monday night, the first of four games in hand as they bid to claw back a yawning 22-point gap to Rangers.
So how did it come to this? BBC Scotland charts the timeline of events.
Why Dubai?
Since 2017 under Brendan Rodgers, Celtic have been flying to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates at the start of January for some warm weather training during the Scottish Premiership's winter break.
It has been a fruitful trip for them, with the last two years allowing them to shake off Old Firm defeats and put winning runs together to clinch treble success.
It's perhaps understandable then, that the club sought another bounce after a dreadful autumn run left their 10-in-a-row hopes hanging by a thread. They were given permission to go by the Scottish government on 12 November, but things have unravelled since.
Scott Brown and his Celtic team-mates have been going to Dubai in January since 2017
The fixture change
The Dubai trip caused a stir even before lift off, after Celtic asked Hibernian and the SPFL to move their league match from Saturday 9 January, to the following Monday to allow them to go.
The match was duly moved without Hibs' consent, which left their then chief executive Leeann Dempster "fizzing".
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The SPFL said the protocol was to go with the home side's wishes when clubs could not agree on a change.
Ian Blair, the league's director of operations, said at the time: "As has been the case for the past 22 years, SPFL policy, where two clubs do not agree about a fixture change and in the absence of any other relevant factor, is to favour the home club."
The picture changes
Between the Scottish government granting Celtic permission in November, and them flying out on 2 January, the new, more virulent strain of Covid-19 was identified in the UK.
That caused plans for Christmas relaxations to be drawn back, and the whole of mainland Scotland was placed into Level 4, the most severe level of restrictions, from Boxing Day. At the time of the trip, the UAE was on the government's exemption list, so people could travel there without quarantining on their return.
Celtic were allowed to go as a group under exemptions for elite athletes. On the pitch, the Scottish champions fell to a 1-0 defeat by Rangers on 2 January to slip 19 points off the pace. They flew to Dubai immediately after the game.
The Celtic team, including Nir Bitton pictured, flew to Dubai after their Old Firm defeat at Ibrox
Social distancing breaches
The trip - already unpopular with some Celtic fans - then attracted more headlines when photos emerged , externalof manager Neil Lennon, captain Scott Brown, and others sitting poolside drinking beer, while appearing to breach social-distancing guidelines.
That prompted the deputy first minister John Swinney to accuse Celtic on 4 January of not setting "a particularly great example", while his boss Nicola Sturgeon went a step further the next day, when she encouraged the football authorities "to look into" the alleged breaches.
"For me, the question for Celtic is what is the purpose of them being there," Ms Sturgeon said.
"I have also seen some photographs - and I don't know the full circumstances - that would raise a question in my mind about whether all the rules elite players have to follow in their bubble around social distancing are being complied with."
The Scottish FA, though, had no plans to investigate at that stage. In response to the Scottish government's less-than impressed attitude, Celtic reiterated that they had the permission of all the relevant authorities and that their camp had been fully risk assessed.
Back down to earth with a bump
Celtic returned from Dubai on Friday, 8 January
Fast forward to Friday 8 January and Celtic arrived back in Glasgow around 16:00 GMT. On Saturday they held their usual pre-match press conference, at which assistant manager John Kennedy was asked about the alleged breaches of social distancing, and the reaction in Scotland.
He admitted to "slip-ups", though added they "probably paint a false picture" and reiterated that Celtic had remained within their bubble.
Celtic guilty of 'minor slip-ups' in Dubai - Kennedy
But on Sunday afternoon the club was thrown into chaos when they revealed one player - now established as injured defender Jullien - had tested positive for Covid-19 on returning from Dubai. It should be stressed that it is possible the Frenchman caught the virus before flying out, given the virus' incubation period.
After discussions with the local health authority, it emerged a further 13 first-team players, plus Lennon and Kennedy had to self-isolate as close contacts and would therefore miss Monday's game at home to Hibs.
As if that, and another potential blow to their title hopes wasn't enough, Ms Sturgeon urged the club to "reflect seriously" on the trip and expressed concern about adherence to the rules.
"I do have doubts based on how the club itself described it, doubts about whether Celtic's trip to Dubai was really essential," she said. "I have doubts based on some pictures I have seen about whether adherence to bubble rules was strict enough."