According to a Daily Record report, Rangers and the eleven other Premiership clubs have accepted that it’s time to pull the plug on the 2019/20 season.
All football in Scotland was halted in mid-March as a result of the global health crisis.
The Championship, League One and League Two seasons have since been declared finished but a decision hasn’t yet been made on the Premiership.
Plans to restart leagues in Germany, Italy and Spain have given hope to football fans but the situation is different in Scotland.
Not only is the nation still in a state of lockdown, but experts have also warned that it isn’t financially viable for the Scottish game to return behind closed doors [Scottish Herald].
It’s within that context that the Record report claims the clubs have made a unanimous decision.
It’s stated that all 12 teams made it clear during a videoconference last Friday that they wouldn’t object to the current campaign being ended and Celtic being declared champions.
It’s suggested that this wasn’t initially made clear by the minutes written up by Aberdeen, but that an updated version has now been sent to SPFL CEO Neil Doncaster for consideration.
The governing body has the power to call the season finished – following further consultation with clubs – and it’s suggested that an announcement will be made ‘within days’.
Verdict
There’s been a sense of inevitability that Premiership fixtures would go unfulfilled ever since the suspension of football back in March.
The Gers were vocal in stating that, on the grounds of sporting integrity, they would not consider the season finished until all matches had been completed.
Yet, if this report is accurate, they’ve now yielded.
Plenty of Bears are sure to be angry at the idea of the Hoops being handed a title they hadn’t mathematically earned, with many hoping the SPFL would follow the example of the Dutch Eredivisie by cancelling the campaign without any champions or relegation.
It now looks a matter of time before Celtic are handed their ninth consecutive title but many from the blue half of Glasgow will forever regard it as a hollow, tainted victory.
