With both Belgium and France putting a stop to their respective country’s federation in their plans to relegate without all games being played, it seems the bill is finally coming due in Scotland as well. While in Belgium, The Belgian Competition Authority’s ‘auditore’ (auditor) declared that the decision to relegate Waasland-Beveren constitutes an infringement of competition law, in France, the French Supreme Administrative Court (Conseil d État) deemed relegation unlawful.
It seems the SPFL have been watching, and according to Daily Record (yes hate quoting them, but this is important), ”the SPFL always knew the revamp was doomed to failure, but have pushed for reconstruction at the 11th hour to strengthen any potential defence in court.”
Now, I can reveal that reconstruction is not going to happen, at least not at the 14-10-10-10 structure being proposed by the SPFL. There are several clubs unhappy at this proposal and feel they are being used in this ‘charade’ to delay and stop Hearts, Partick Thistle and Stranraer going down the legal avenue. Also, as you might remember, I broke the story (first to my Patreons) that Ann Budge has decided to go down the legal route including Competitions and Marketing Authority. Some of these clubs are now saying ‘enough’ and without their support, reconstruction is simply not going to happen.
SPFL To Face A Higher Compensation Claim
That brings us to the second part of the story. Edinburgh News yesterday put out a story which said SPFL face £6m compensation claim from Hearts and others if league reconstruction fails. According to Edinburgh News, ”Hearts previously expected to lose up to £4m as a result of relegation from the Premiership, although the final figure could now reach as much as £5m.”
However, in my talks with a Hearts source, the figure is not close to being correct. He estimates the total losses of Hearts to be somewhere close to £7-8m, which pushes the final compensation figure to a significantly higher number.
While SPFL believes that their bid at reconstruction puts them in a stronger legal footing, that is definitely not the case as you might know if you followed my coverage of the French and Belgium situation. Also in Scotland, there is so much more that could be picked apart including Dundee’s controversial U turn in a vote after they had actually cast a vote, and the fact that SPFL failed to disclose a potential £10m liability to broadcasters and sponsors in the event of last season’s league was called early (as it happened). Moreover, many expect the fact that Brechin was the only club to avoid relegation in the entire pyramid to come under intense scrutiny.
There is no wonder so much spin is coming from the SPFL with everything set to spiral out of control in the next few days.
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