The compensation figure Hearts and Partick Thistle will seek from the SPFL totals £10m should the courts not overturn their relegations, BBC Sport Scotland have reported this evening.
As we have discussed on the site already this week, the two clubs have launched a joint legal case against the league body in opposition to dropping down divisions, following the curtailment of the 2019/20 season because of the global pandemic.
A statement published earlier today made it clear their primary intention is to halt that relegation but the duo also declared their intention to obtain financial compensation should that not be made possible.
Now, BBC Scotland report that the amounts they’re looking for are sizable, with Hearts seeking a massive £8m and Partick Thistle claiming £2m.
A petition has been lodged with the Court of Session to that effect, which the SPFL now have seven days to respond to.
A spokesman told BBC Scotland their lawyers were studying it all carefully, as you’d expect.
This is all relevant to Celtic because it’s ultimately the 42 SPFL clubs that will be collectively responsible for paying out any financial compensation due to a lack of cash reserves held by the league body.
SPFL Chief Executive Neil Doncaster made that clear last month.
As quoted by The Edinburgh Evening News, he said: “Any action that’s taken by any member against the league ultimately is taken against members as a whole.
“We don’t hold reserves year to year, so any action that any one individual club takes, effectively the burden of that would fall on all the other members.”
It seems likely any compensation would be deducted from future prize money totals, of which Celtic have been the primary benefactors over the last decade due to our success on the field.
However, there’s a long way to go in this legal fight and it’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out.
Hearts and Partick Thistle are pulling no punches, now the ball is in the SPFL’s court.
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