The SPFL have finally announced what they intimated were their plans as far back as March – when the country went into lockdown – by awarding Celtic the 2019/20 Scottish Premiership title.
From day one the SPFL has lurched from shambles to shambles, a lack of leadership and an obvious desire to intimidate member clubs into voting for their plan with no time afforded for alternative ideas or resolutions that could have seen the financial burden temporarily lifted from cash-strapped clubs.
The narrative from Parkhead has been in stark contrast to some of Europe’s giants in a similar position, Juventus, Liverpool and Paris St Germain all reflecting on the more important aspects of the coronavirus pandemic – the impact to human life – rather than an immediate desire to be declared champions because they “deserve” it, showing a class that is sadly lacking in some quarters of Scottish football.
As Neil Lennon et al celebrate as only a club like no other would, there remains a question that needs to be answered, and one that hasn’t been asked by the mainstream Scottish media and it surrounds the assumption that the SPFL has met the UEFA guidelines for cancelling a season early.
UEFA have given the green light for governing bodies to declare their season’s over, once they have received permission, they have also said that countries will not be allowed to kick off next season until teams competing in European competition have completed their campaigns – they should also be cancelled only as a “last resort“.
There has been – from the beginning – a huge importance placed on starting the 2020/21 SPFL season on time because of the new Sky TV deal, a potential £10million bill from cutting short 2019/20 might have something to do with this., however, in line with UEFA’s guidelines, this does not meet their criteria for ending the season early.
With Rangers still to play their last 16 second-leg fixture against Bayer Leverkusen, there remains doubts over whether or not they will be allowed to make signings and play them in this fixture or have to go with the same ones that played in the first leg, they would be at a huge disadvantage domestically if they had to complete the Europa League in August with one squad and then rush to make transfers to start the domestic season.
The SPFL have proven themselves to be far from competent in their handling of the crisis and few would be surprised if they have jumped the gun once again, for one reason or another, their declaration today will be far from the end of the matter.