Hibernian in SPFL dispute over moved Celtic Scottish Premiership fixture date
Outgoing Hibernian chief executive Leeann Dempster 'fizzing' over decision to move Celtic Scottish Premiership fixture; SPFL insists fixture schedule amendment news was delivered to Hibs before it was made public
Monday 30 November 2020 23:34, UK
Hibernian chief executive Leeann Dempster has accused the SPFL of re-arranging a Scottish Premiership fixture against Celtic without informing the club that it had been moved.
A tweet from the SPFL (Scottish Professional Football League) on Monday stated that the fixture was moved from its original January 9 date "following a club request", and that the clubs will now face each other on January 11 (kick-off 7:45pm).
Dempster, who announced last week that she is leaving her role at Hibs, hit back at the decision, claiming the SPFL had agreed to a second request for a fixture change from Celtic without their knowledge, after the club rejected an initial call from Celtic to re-arrange the match to another slot on the same weekend.
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She tweeted: "Apologies to our supporters and our head coach. This was done without our knowledge - we said no to the original request from Celtic because it didn't work for our club.
"The SPFL appears to have agreed to this without a call to the decision-makers at our club.
"We are fizzing about this - the SPFL know I am leaving soon (ish) but they have my mobile number so a call should have been easy to do… Not good enough."
A spokesperson for Celtic told Sky Sports News: "Celtic can confirm that its match against Hibernian scheduled for the New Year has been moved to Monday 11th January 2021 with a 1945 kick-off.
"The club, through the proper SPFL process, has made this request with a view to arranging a winter training camp during this particular week, something which has proven hugely beneficial to the squad in recent seasons."
The SPFL, meanwhile, has said the decision was made according to longstanding policy around changing dates for fixtures and that Hibernian were made aware of the alteration to the schedule "before it was made public".
The League's director of operations, Iain Blair, said: "Discussions between Celtic FC and Hibernian FC had taken place about the Celtic v Hibernian league match originally scheduled for Saturday January 9th.
"Celtic wished to move the fixture from its scheduled time, to another slot that weekend. When the two clubs could not reach agreement, I received a request from Celtic FC to move their home match against Hibernian FC to Monday January 11th.
"I took the request to the SPFL board, noting that Hibernian FC objected to the move. However, as the proposed date change fell within the same Friday - Monday fixture slot, and was made by the home club, I informed the SPFL board that my intention was to agree to the request.
"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.
"Both Celtic FC and Hibernian FC were advised of the change more than an hour before the decision was made public, with no adverse comment being received from Hibernian FC ahead of publication."
Celtic's most recent clash with Jack Ross' side, a 2-2 draw at Easter Road earlier this month, helped pile pressure on Neil Lennon, who is facing an uncertain future at Parkhead.
The Hoops are second in the Scottish top flight, 11 points behind rivals Rangers, and Lennon met with senior figures at the club on Monday for talks, after his side were dumped out of the League Cup by Ross County.
Celtic's players and staff were given a police escort after the final whistle on Sunday, as clashes ensued between fans and police officers outside the ground, following the 2-0 home defeat.
The 4-1 home loss to Sparta Prague in the Europa League also saw criticism levelled at Lennon. The reigning Premiership champions travel to AC Milan for their next Group H test on Thursday.
