STEWART REGAN last night warned Scottish football faces “a slow lingering death” if Rangers are not parachuted into the First Division.
The SFA chief executive spoke out after SPL clubs followed the wishes of their fans and overwhelmingly voted “no” to the Ibrox newco.
Regan is adamant our game is now hanging on the edge of a cliff and will topple over into the abyss if the SFL do not agree to let them into the nation’s second tier.
Some SFL clubs, in particular Raith Rovers, have expressed anger at being bullied into the position of accepting the fallen Glasgow giants.
But Regan insists there is simply no other way and has warned of the grave implications if the SFL do not vote next week to allow Rangers in.
The SFA chief said: “The only solution for the game now is that Rangers come into the First Division.
“If Rangers were to go anywhere else, then there would be somewhere in the region of £15.7million worth of losses.
“For the bigger clubs that’s half their annual distributions.
“For clubs at the bottom, it’s basically wiping out their entire distributions, for some of the smaller clubs it’s a huge proportion of their annual turnover.
“St Mirren have already stated they would face a severe financial backlash if they lost their TV money. The same will be true for most clubs.
“Clubs could survive for a short period of time but it’s not sustainable so there would be a slow, lingering death for the game.
“As the governing body, we can’t allow that to happen. It would simply be a dereliction of duty.
“There are only losers in this and it is just a case of how much is going to be lost. Even if Rangers end up in the First Division, there is still going to be a £5m loss of income to the SPL clubs.
“They are relying on the SFA bringing the process forward and clearly they are relying on the SFL clubs to think long and hard about the next step.
“It’s time for decisive action and leadership. We have not been able to get involved intensely until this moment as we don’t run the leagues.
“The SPL have made a decision and we now need to help drive this process forward. The game is broken at the moment and we have to fix it.”
SPL chief Neil Doncaster believes his members made a brave decision by saying no to the newco.
He said: “It would have be easier, certainly financially, to say yes but our clubs have said no.
“They’ve done what their supporters wanted them to. They’ve been bold.”
Doncaster, who revealed a decision on the team to take Rangers’ place will be made after next week’s SFL meeting, also dismissed hints from Charles Green that his newco had been handed false hope.
He added: “No, I don’t think so. I can’t be sure what has been discussed between Rangers newco and existing clubs but ultimately what came forward didn’t get a yes.”
Cowdenbeath last night became the latest SFL club to say they would oppose letting the newco join the First Division.
And chairman Donald Findlay, a former vice-chairman at Ibrox, blasted the authorities for putting pressure on his club.
He said: “I won’t forget the way they have tried to bend me and this club to their will.”