Hearts & Partick Thistle have '50-50' chance of legal action success
- Published
Hearts and Partick Thistle filed a petition at the Court of Session in Edinburgh on Wednesday
Hearts and Partick Thistle have nothing to lose by legally challenging their relegation, but their chances are no more than 50-50, says a sports lawyer.
The Scottish FA have written to both clubs to ask why they filed a petition at the Court of Session this week.
Former St Mirren defender David Winnie, now head of sports law at a London firm, says the £10m compensation claim of the duo is "conservative".
"I can fully understand why they are going down this route," he said.
"They have nothing to lose. The option of doing nothing means they would lose millions. Have they got a real chance? I would put it no more than 50/50."
In the petition, the clubs asked for a judge to scrap promotions and relegations throughout all four of Scotland's divisions.
That sparked a robust response from Dundee United, Raith Rovers and Cove Rangers, who would stay down despite being named champions.
Hearts and Thistle have said they "reserve the right" to apply for an interim interdict to prevent the Premiership season starting.
However, Winnie says that would be "a risky strategy" and that he would be "very surprised" if a judge determined that the league should not begin on 1 August.
The SPFL have until Tuesday to respond and Hearts and Thistle have asked for an expedited hearing.
The court will either decree they have jurisdiction to adjudicate or will decide it is a matter for the SPFL.
Winnie, who also played briefly for Hearts in the mid-1990s, says a settlement agreement to avoid a court case seems unlikely.
It has been reported Hearts and Thistle may be in breach of Article 99, external of the Scottish FA's Articles of Association.
The legal opinion received by the clubs is that they have not breached that rule, as their main dispute is with the SPFL. However, that remains open to interpretation.
No deadline has been set for the duo to reply to the letters, which will also ask why they have chosen not to ask the governing body to arbitrate.
However, depending on their response to the compliance officer, Hearts and Thistle could be issues notices of complaint and face a judicial panel charge.