Rangers European tie should have been cancelled, says top scientist

Big sports matches and concerts in Scotland just days before the lockdown should have been cancelled, according to a leading scientist.

Tim Spector, a ­professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, warned the Cheltenham Festival and Liverpool’s Champions League game against Atletico Madrid in March “caused increased suffering and death”.

Yesterday, Professor Spector told The Post large events in Scotland should also have been scrapped. About 67,000 rugby fans watched Scotland play France at Murrayfield, Edinburgh, on March 8.

Stereophonics played at the 13,000-capacity SSE Hydro, Glasgow, on March 11. That day, the World Health Organisation declared C-19 a pandemic and expressed concern at “alarming levels of inaction”. A day later Rangers played Bayer Leverkusen in front of 47,000 fans.

Scotland went into lockdown on the evening of March 23.

Professor Spector said: “With the benefit of hindsight, these events should have been cancelled, but it’s impossible to know the true impact of the number of extra cases.”

Ian Murray, Labour’s Shadow Scottish Secretary, said: “This intervention from an internationally-respected scientist shows it was reckless to go ahead with major sporting events. We need an inquiry to determine if lives could have been saved.”

The Scottish Government said: “At all times, the Scottish Government’s actions have been guided by the best and most up-to-date expert scientific and medical advice. The Scottish Government was the first to ban mass gatherings in the UK and also acted to close schools in advance of UK-wide decisions.”