Reconstruction plan still alive as French legal bid gives Jambos fans hope HEARTS GET OUI LIFELINE
HEARTS and Partick Thistle were thrown a potential legal lifeline last night after French judges scrapped relegation from Ligue 1.
The National Court blocked the demotion of Amiens and Toulouse following the coronavirus curtailed campaign with topflight clubs in France having 10 matches left to play.
The Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) are now hurriedly re-examining the Ligue 1 format for when the
football eventually returns with the bottom two teams still involved.
It comes just days after Belgian football chiefs ruled Waasland-Beveren’s relegation from the Pro League was illegal.
That has alerted chiefs at Tynecastle, Firhill and Stranraer following their clubs being relegated from the Premiership, Championship and League One, respectively.
The Scottish club bosses have been monitoring the French and Belgian cases and could now use them as a precedent.
One huge difference between the cases is that in France, league executives made the decision on relegation but here, clubs voted to end the season and relegate teams.
Hearts are preparing a potential costly legal case against the SPFL should Ann Budge’s latest push for league reconstruction fail.
The SPFL board will debate the proposal this morning with hopes of an 11th hour reconstruction still not dead.
Record Sport can reveal Hampden top brass will dial into a conference call at 10am to discuss Jambos owner Budge’s proposal for a 14-team top flight.
Rangers are expected to also present their plan B for a new look 14-14-18 three division set-up.
The discussions come after league chief executive Neil Doncaster canvassed all 42 clubs asking for feedback on potential proposals to rush through emergency change for next season.
A rejig of the current structure could save Hearts, Thistle and Stranraer dropping down as a result of the coronavirus crisis.
The deadline for those responses passed yesterday afternoon and it’s understood the mood for a possible revamp was more positive than had been widely anticipated.
Doncaster will now present the feedback to his fellow directors before debating what shape – if any – the most viable reconstruction might take.
Hearts have also backed the Ibrox club’s blueprint which would allow both Rangers and Celtic to launch B teams into a beefed up bottom tier,
WOMAN WITH PLAN Budge
with Highland League champs Brora Rangers and Lowland League title winners Kelty Hearts.
Celtic are also set to throw their weight behind the plan.
But it’s far from certain the required number of lower league clubs will be prepared to vote it through despite various financial incentives from welcoming the Old Firm colts into the fold.
But one club source told Record Sport last night: “There was a feeling the entire reconstruction debate would be declared a dead duck today. That’s not the case.
“There does seem to be a willingness among many clubs to right the most obvious wrongs of Covid-19 but there’s a lot of talking to be done in order to make that happen.
“The positive news is there is certainly a feeling that more clubs may be more open-minded to it than had been expected by Neil and the SPFL board.”
Should it not go through, there is still the legal route.
Thistle said last month they wouldn’t rule out going to court as they “explored every avenue”, while Hearts face losing £3million as a result of dropping into the Championship – with doubts over a start date for the second tier.
The French case hit the courts last month after Amiens took legal action claiming their relegation was “unjust”.
Bottom club Toulouse also appealed together with Lyon, who missed out on a European place when they finished seventh on the same points-per-game average used by the SPFL.
And last night the National Court – France’s highest administrative court – ruled that the duo could not be demoted whilst also rejecting a bid to restart the season.