East Kilbride chairman Mark Horner still has no idea where his side's William Hill Scottish Cup clash with Celtic will be staged after Hamilton announced they had "no intention " of playing host.
The saga reached farcical proportions on Monday afternoon when Accies revealed New Douglas Park was fully booked for Sunday, February 7, when Lowland League Kilby are due to host the Scottish champions.
The minnows were already unhappy at being forced to take the match to Hamilton's 6,000-capacity ground after claiming it was their seventh-choice venue.
Their K-Park home has been ruled out on safety grounds following talks with Police Scotland.
Scottish Football Association rules dictate that if a club cannot stage a cup tie it should then be staged at the nearest registered stadium. New Douglas Park is seven miles from K-Park and closer than any other senior ground.
But now the matter has been thrown up in the air once more after Accies revealed their stadium is unavailable on February 7.
"We are in the dark," Horner was quoted as saying by STV. "We are gobsmacked with the situation and we are waiting to talk to the Scottish FA.
"We sent them a letter (on Sunday) to ask if New Douglas Park was big enough due to ticket demand. We haven't heard anything back.
"We have had over 1,000 enquires ranging from two, four and six tickets - w e could have 4,000 supporters, then you've got to add Celtic fans.
"Hamilton not hosting was news to us. We heard via the media."
In a statement, Hamilton said their home pitch was already promised to their youth set-up on the day in question.
"It has recently been reported that we will be hosting the William Hill Scottish Cup fifth-round fixture between East Kilbride and Celtic on Sunday 7th February," it said.
"We have a full programme of academy, youth and community events already planned for that weekend and have no intention of altering our club programme and as a result will not be in a position to make New Douglas Park available to stage the tie."
East Kilbride, who overcame Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale last Wednesday to set their Hoops clash, had earlier informed Hampden chiefs their preference was to stage the game at their K-Park home.
If the 600-capacity ground was ruled out, they listed Hampden, Celtic Park, Broadwood, the Excelsior Stadium in Airdrie and Partick Thistle's Firhill ahead of New Douglas Park.
However, the SFA ruled it should go ahead at Hamilton after consulting Scottish Cup rule 13, which states that ties will be played at the "nearest registered ground of at least equivalent capacity which in the opinion of the (SFA) board is most suitable for the occasion" if a home team's stadium cannot be used.
Press Association Sport understands the SFA has written to East Kilbride to seek clarification on the matter and plans to follow up with discussions on Tuesday as it seeks a solution to the matter.
Source: PA
