Scotland supporters will again be able to buy alcohol inside Hampden Park as authorities expand trials examining whether the country’s 45-year football alcohol restrictions should be eased.
Glasgow’s licensing board has approved four occasional licences covering designated concourse areas for Scotland’s Nations League matches against Switzerland on September 29 and Slovenia on October 6.
The move does not lift Scotland’s general ban on alcohol sales at football grounds.
Sales at Hampden will be restricted to supporters in specified seating areas and bars will operate only before kick-off.
The expanded trial follows controlled alcohol sales at Scotland friendlies against Japan and Curaçao earlier this year.
Licensing representatives told the board that those trials produced no adverse incidents.
Officials described the latest expansion as another incremental step designed to gather evidence while maintaining public-safety controls.
General alcohol sales at Scottish football grounds have been prohibited since 1981.
The forthcoming Nations League matches will provide another test of whether controlled sales can operate without the problems that prompted the restriction more than four decades ago.
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