Monday 11 May 2020 20:58, UK
All 42 SPFL clubs will vote on Tuesday to decide whether an investigation should be launched into the conduct of the SPFL. Sky Sports News reporter Charles Paterson looks at some of the key issues facing the clubs and the governing body.
Tuesday marks another fork in the road for the future of the 2019-2020 Scottish Premiership season. An Extraordinary General Meeting of all 42 SPFL clubs will decide whether to launch an independent investigation into April's vote to end the season.
The resolution, proposed by Rangers and backed by Hearts and Stranraer, requires at least 32 votes - a minimum of nine Premiership clubs, eight Championship clubs and 15 clubs in Leagues One and Two combined must vote in favour for an investigation to be launched.
The embattled SPFL executives have warned an investigation would be time-consuming, expensive and potentially damaging for clubs struggling to stay afloat during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Six of the seven club representatives on the SPFL board signed a letter refuting Rangers' claims, while warning of an "incalculable cost to the game" if the requisitioners chose to pursue their case.
The numbers don't appear to stack up for those seeking an inquiry. Two Premiership clubs represented on the SPFL board, Motherwell and Hamilton, seem certain to vote against and another top-flight club has already privately expressed their intention to do the same. If one more follows suit, the resolution is sunk.
Some clubs have issue with the matters voted upon in April, others are incandescent about the early release of the results, and the question-marks over Dundee's voting U-turn.
Clubs across all four divisions, and those in the Highland and Lowland Leagues, have been scathing in their criticism about failed league reconstruction talks, which were torpedoed by Premiership clubs last week.
Rangers are at the forefront of those seeking more detailed answers than those provided by the SPFL's internal inquiry, conducted by Deloitte.
Their much-anticipated "dossier of evidence" released last Thursday was lengthy and detailed, and focused on complaints around process and governance, but did not appear to provide any seismic revelations.
The Ibrox club have offered to fund the independent investigation if it's approved and appear determined to take their case as far as possible.
Their original accusations of "coercion and bullying" in the immediate aftermath of the April vote have been vehemently denied by chief executive Neil Doncaster and the majority of the SPFL board - the awkwardness of the situation is enhanced by the fact that Stewart Robertson, Rangers' managing director, sits on that board.
Many clubs are also unhappy at the basic rhetoric of the SPFL in recent week. Of the many things Doncaster and his fellow executives have been accused of, one of the few they have accepted is the league's communications could have been better handled.
Going forward, the SPFL must examine how it communicates with clubs and supporters - but the structure of the league hierarchy is also up for debate.
There are no club representatives on the three-person English Premier League (EPL) board, in Scotland, seven clubs are represented and voted onto the board on an annual basis.
Historically, clubs in England are guided away from voting on big issues, with matters of significant importance deferred to the FA board if necessary.
The last vote in the EPL was in 2017, on altering the dates of the summer transfer window, the SPFL is about to conduct its second vote in five weeks.
One Premiership owner told me in late March, before the SPFL's resolution was even on the table, that any decision to end the season "should be made by the elected board and not by the clubs - involving 42 voices will only create problems".
That owner has been proved correct, and spectacularly so, but the reason clubs could vote was based on the league's own laws - which, of course, only the clubs can vote to change.
Would this scenario have unfolded if the SPFL board had made an executive decision themselves - or indeed if the government had decreed, as in France or the Netherlands, that there would be no sport until September?
There would certainly have been dissenting voices against and maybe even calls for an investigation or threats of legal action - but it would have also been a demonstration of strong leadership. The protests would likely have dissipated. Instead, a civil war has erupted.
Whichever way Tuesday's vote goes, it seems increasingly likely the Scottish Premiership season will not be completed, and this should be confirmed by May 25, the deadline given by UEFA for member associations to declare if top divisions in Europe are to continue or end.
As the EPL, with a vast pool of resources at its disposal, prepares to resume, Scottish football faces months without competitive action, and even longer without supporters in its stadia.
