Hibs whistleblower accused of trying to create 'a storm in a teacup'

Hibs chief executive Ben Kensell has hit out at a whistleblower’s attempt to highlight alleged breaches in Covid-19 protocols at the team’s hotel.

Referring to a Glasgow businessman who claims to have witnessed some Easter Road players walking about the Kingsmill Hotel, in Inverness, without masks just hours before new positive tests were returned, forcing the postponement of Saturday’s match against Ross County, Kensell described him as being “from the blue side of Glasgow”. “I’m merely pointing that out,” he added.

The Leith outfit have had a fraught relationship with Rangers in recent years, and the enmity was stoked further in the aftermath of Ryan Porteous’ sending off at Ibrox last month and the subsequent abuse the Hibs defender was subjected to.

But, Kensell said he was disappointed that anyone would use a situation, which has now seen the decimation of Jack Ross’ squad, with 18 Hibs players and staff testing positive for Covid, as a way to try to score points.

Hibs' chief executive Ben Kensell has outlined the ongoing difficulties caused by the club's Covid-19 outbreak. Photo by Paul Devlin / SNS Group

“What we will end up doing is creating a storm in a teacup.

“I think there was a genuine concern but I also think it was something he was very quick to jump on and try to sensationalise a situation where quite frankly the welfare of many, many people are at stake.

“What I don’t want to do is go into instances when I’ve been round grounds in the country where I’ve not seen practises being (observed) but I’m not going to go to a paper to say that because if I have those concerns I will speak to the club or write to the club. If people want I will speak to them in person and correct any issues they may have.

“What I’m pointing out is up and down the country every day we see situations where perhaps people are not fulfilling things to the letter of the law and what I’m saying is I think it’s really important that everyone does.

“But, what I’m not doing is saying that anyone is a liar. I’m just saying we put our processes in place, the players know the responsibilities that they have to stop or mitigate the spread of this kind of condition. I’m confident in our processes and I’m confident in the responsibilities that the players have to follow them.”

A message from the Editor

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.