Why are you keeping fans in the dark?
ANGRY SPFL bosses are blaming Hearts and Partick Thistle for keeping their own fans in the dark over the reasons behind the decision to send them down. A fresh war of words erupted last
night between Hampden’s sixth floor and the relegated rebels after it was revealed the two clubs had teamed up to block the publication of the arbitration judgment on the controversial decision to end last season during the height of the Covid-19 crisis.
Record Sport can reveal that the league’s governing body have agreed that the findings should be made public and their stance has been backed by Dundee United, Raith Rovers and Cove Rangers who were also involved in the hearing.
But Hearts and Thistle refused to sanction the release of details despite originally calling for the process to be completely transparent and held at the Court of Session.
As bad blood boiled over yesterday the M8 Alliance released a joint statement confirming they have torpedoed the move to allow the judgment to be published while accusing the SPFL of cherry-picking which parts of the confidential proceedings are kept under wraps.
That prompted a tersely worded response from the league’s board last night.
In a statement issued to Record Sport an SPFL spokesman said: “The SPFL is content for the decision to be made public but the advice we have received is that, for it to become public, the Scottish Arbitration Rules require that all parties would have to agree to waive confidentiality in the decision. The SPFL would agree to that.”
A source familiar with the proceedings added: “It’s mystifying why anyone who values transparency would refuse to allow the full detailed decision to go into the public domain.”
The three-person panel rejected demands to overturn relegations and booted out a £10m joint compensation claim.
That came as a bitter blow and it will become even more painful next week when the arbitrators reconvene to decide how much money both clubs have to stump up to cover the cost of the huge legal fees incurred by the SPFL, United, Raith and Cove.
Hearts and Partick could find themselves in more hot water on Thursday when they are hauled up in front of the SFA after being hit with a charge from the compliance officer for attempting to drag the civil war into the courts.
Potential punishments range from a £5,000 fine to being booted out of the league and having their SFA memberships torn up,
But they are determined not to back down from this battle over disclosure of the decision-making process.
In a joint statement yesterday they said: “We can confirm that the SPFL requested the judgment, and judgement alone, from the recent arbitration be shared with other member clubs – a request we opposed.
“Hearts and Partick Thistle always wanted this matter to be heard in open court in the interest of total transparency.
“If the SPFL hadn’t sought to have court action sisted for arbitration then all hearings would have taken place in the public domain, including necessary examination of witnesses, consideration of documentary evidence and full legal submissions.
“We don’t believe sharing the judgment on its own would be appropriate. Hearts and Partick Thistle have fully respected the rules and directions of the tribunal to ensure privacy of the proceedings.
“It is not surprising that Hearts and Partick Thistle expect the same respect for the tribunal’s directions and rules to be adhered to by the other parties who insisted on that forum for the dispute.
“The SPFL went so far as to tell the member clubs that if they even wanted sight of their answers to the Court of Session petition, they needed to enter court proceedings.
“We understand SPFL board members were not even allowed sight of their answers. The SPFL insisted on a private arbitration, it is not now appropriate for it to seek publicity of only one part of proceedings.”