September 23 – UEFA have opened disciplinary proceedings against the Scottish Football Association after the country’s under-19s women’s team pulled out of a European Championship qualifier against Serbia, with nine players and eight members of the backroom staff reportedly being hit by a sickness bug in what the federation described as an “exceptional situation.”
Monday’s game was postponed after the Scots informed UEFA that a local doctor confirmed an outbreak of gastroenteritis but Serbian media reports claimed, somewhat fancifully, that the Scottish team had been on a drinking spree the night before after celebrating an earlier win against Albania.
UEFA has charged the SFA with “refusal to play” (standard language) with the case to be heard next Wednesday. The SFA issued a statement confirming the under-19s could not play the game, which would also have taken place in Albania, because of an “outbreak of acute gastroenteritis.”
“We apologised for the unforeseen circumstance to our hosts in Albania and also to our opponents, Serbia. Given the exceptional situation, we emphasised our wish that the match be rescheduled and we have reiterated that stance to UEFA and their match operations department,” the statement said.
Team coach Gareth Evans added: “I have never experienced anything like it but the main thing is that we are back recuperating and awaiting UEFA’s verdict. We remain hopeful they will look sympathetically at the exceptional circumstances.”
“The health and wellbeing of the girls is the most important thing, and while they are disappointed not to have been able to play the game after two victories I was more concerned with making sure they got treated and made it home safely.”
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