Coronavirus: Dundee hold key to how Scottish football league's season finishes

GLASGOW • The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) is set to hold an emergency meeting imminently to determine the next step for a draft of proposals to end the current campaign and allow more than £9 million (S$16 million) of prize money to be urgently distributed.

Scottish clubs, especially those below the elite Premiership, are facing a cash crunch with all games on hold since March 13 owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Scottish tabloid Daily Record, it is understood the SPFL board will "ask for legal advice on whether the cash can be unlocked and deposited with all its 42 clubs without declaring the season over" within days.

A civil war has erupted over the possibility of a premature ending to Scottish football this term, with Hearts joining fellow top-flight side Rangers in slamming the SPFL's handling of last Friday's vote over concluding the campaign if it cannot finish due to the Covid-19 crisis.

No outcome was declared as second-tier Dundee did not cast their vote before the deadline, with the Championship side giving an "unequivocal instruction" not to count their ballot.

While clubs in the Premiership, as well as the third and fourth division have voted in favour by the required 75 per cent majority, the second tier remains in the balance.

Seven clubs voted for the plan, while two were against, meaning Dundee hold the swing vote.

Their decision could also determine whether the Premiership standings are decided on a points-per-game basis if the remaining games cannot be played.

That would see Celtic - who hold a 13-point lead over second-placed Rangers - retain their title while Hearts would be relegated.

Hearts chairman Ann Budge called the botched vote "a major embarrassment for Scottish football" in a statement on the club's website and said the SPFL was trying to "unduly influence the members' decision-making process". She added her club would propose a "temporary adjustment to the leagues" - effectively an expanded Premiership for next season - to compensate for the expected £3 million in lost income should the campaign be terminated early.

The SPFL, meanwhile, went on the defensive after a stinging attack by Rangers, who raised "serious concerns" with the voting process and called for the suspension of SPFL chief Neil Doncaster on Saturday.

Days for Dundee to cast their vote on the Scottish Professional Football League's proposal to end the season if the remaining games cannot be played owing to the virus pandemic.

In a letter addressed to all the clubs on Sunday, SPFL chairman Murdoch MacLennan said: "I am entirely satisfied, based on all the information at my disposal, that the SPFL and its executives and legal advisers have acted wholly properly at every stage in this process."

On allegations made by Rangers' interim chairman Douglas Park about the SPFL's corporate governance and request for an independent investigation into its "farcical conduct", MacLennan added he had asked for further evidence, but had not yet received a response.

Regulations mean Dundee have 28 days in which to cast a proper ballot and the Daily Record claimed that they are deliberating over a resubmission.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS