LONDON - SCOTTISH Premier League clubs were Wednesday facing up to the possibility of their worst financial crisis in a generation as the company which holds the rights to broadcast live SPL matches struggled to avoid going into administration.

Setanta, the Irish satellite station, was attempting to secure an emergency cash injection to prevent it defaulting on payments it owes to the SPL, the English Premier League, the English Football Association and other sporting organisations.

The broadcaster, which has 1.2 million subscribers but needs an estimated 1.9 million to break even, has already stopped accepting any new customers and many analysts believe it will only be a matter of days before it goes out of business.

Setanta's demise would probably mean English clubs taking a hit in terms of television revenues but it is in Scotland where the pain will be greatest with real fears that a number of clubs could be forced out of business.

George Foulkes, a prominent Scottish politician and a former chairman of Hearts, warned that the situation was 'very serious' for all of the SPL's 12 clubs. 'I think it puts the future of one or two SPL clubs in jeopardy,' he said. 'They are already struggling financially and this on top of it could be the tipping point.

'In some clubs it (Setanta money) represents up to 20 percent of their income and the loss of it would be really catastrophic. The bigger ones have got reserves that would carry them through even this kind of difficulty, but some of the smaller clubs in the SPL I know are already in financial difficulty and this kind of thing would just tip them over into a situation they could not recover from.'

SPL bosses were Wednesday locked in discussions on what to do if Setanta goes under. The league has already had to pay out 3 million pounds (S$7 million) to clubs to cover a payment that Setanta was unable to make this week.

The broadcaster currently pays 13.5 million pounds per season to the SPL for the rights to broadcast 60 live matches across the UK and Ireland.

It agreed last year to nearly double the payments by agreeing a 125-million-pound deal covering four seasons from 2010-14, but has since indicated that it wants to negotiate a reduction on that commitment.

The SPL will be able to resell the rights if Setanta does collapse but, in the absence of any competition, it seems inevitable that club chairmen will have to accept a much lower offer from whoever comes in to pick them up. -- AFP