Nicola Sturgeon branded a statement issued by Aberdeen FC during the COVID pandemic as a "complacent abomination", text messages have revealed.
Scotland's then first minister hit out at the football team after eight players breached strict social distancing rules during a pub trip in August 2020.
Two players tested positive for the virus and a further six were instructed to self-isolate for 14 days, eventually forcing the team's match with St Johnstone to be postponed.
Ahead of the Scottish Premiership game being called off, Aberdeen FC issued a statement describing the breaches as a "bitter blow" and a "harsh reminder of the severity and speed of spread of this virus".
Dave Cormack, the club's chairman, said a full investigation would be carried out and all those linked to the club would be reminded "what is, and what is not, acceptable in the current climate".
He added: "We now have to focus on preparing for Saturday's game under extremely difficult circumstances."
In a text shown at the UK COVID-19 Inquiry, which is currently sitting in Edinburgh, Ms Sturgeon criticised the statement in a group chat with national clinical director Professor Jason Leitch and Joe FitzPatrick, who was minister for public health, sport and wellbeing at the time.
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Image:Professor Jason Leitch arriving at the UK COVID-19 Inquiry on Tuesday
Image:Professor Jason Leitch arriving at the UK COVID-19 Inquiry on Tuesday
Ms Sturgeon posted a link to the statement on 6 August 2020, saying: "This statement - from a club that's just allowed its players to breach the rules - is a complacent abomination!"
In another conversation between Professor Leitch and Mr FitzPatrick, the national clinical director can be seen calling for the sports minister to force Aberdeen to cancel its games rather than postpone, meaning the Pittodrie club would forfeit the points.
Professor Leitch said: "I think postponing rewards bad behaviour, cancelling and forfeiting the points seems much more appropriate."
Mr FitzPatrick responded: "Postpone and the eight players barred from the game?"
Professor Leitch replied: "Yep. That works."
Image:Nicola Sturgeon's message. Pic: UK COVID-19 Inquiry
Image:Nicola Sturgeon's message. Pic: UK COVID-19 Inquiry
Image:Professor Leitch's message to Mr FitzPatrick. Pic: UK COVID-19 Inquiry
Image:Professor Leitch's message to Mr FitzPatrick. Pic: UK COVID-19 Inquiry
In a briefing a few days later - and after a Celtic player failed to quarantine after a trip to Spain - Ms Sturgeon issued a "yellow card" warning to Scottish football.
She said of the rules: "We can't have privileged football players just deciding that they're not going to bother."
Ms Sturgeon added: "Consider today the yellow card, the next time will be the red card because you will leave us with absolutely no choice."
The inquiry later heard Ms Sturgeon gave a public health expert a "private" SNP email address during an online conversation around COVID.
Ms Sturgeon spoke a number of times with Edinburgh University academic Professor Devi Sridhar throughout the course of the pandemic over direct messages on X.
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Image:Professor Devi Sridhar arriving at the inquiry on Tuesday
Image:Professor Devi Sridhar arriving at the inquiry on Tuesday
In an exchange between the two in June 2020, Professor Sridhar - one of the country's leading experts and most public academics during the pandemic - said she had prepared a note for the chief medical officer on "key steps to managing the outbreak in Scotland looking forward".
She added that she was "happy to share a draft" but was unaware if that would "overstep or break protocol".
Responding, Ms Sturgeon said: "That would be helpful. (Don't worry about protocol - tackling the virus more important than that and I'll handle any issues on that front)."
She went on to tell the academic to send the information to her "privately", providing an SNP email address or "officially" using her Scottish government email address.
"Either way fine by me," she added, in the screenshot of the message Professor Sridhar provided to the inquiry.
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The messages between Professor Sridhar and Ms Sturgeon also hit out at media coverage of the academic's comments.
In one exchange in May 2020, Professor Sridhar said her "words had been twisted" in recent coverage, adding it was "hard with journalists sometimes".
Ms Sturgeon replied: "Don't worry - I fully understand how the media can twist words, sometimes deliberately.
"I think what you say is very powerful and clear though - and has had a big influence on my thinking."
Professor Sridhar also lamented the level of abuse her prominence during the pandemic had resulted in, telling the inquiry she had faced "death threats, racism, sexism, homophobia, you name it, xenophobia".
