SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster has insisted that the league split is here to stay - and revealed that even as late as Wednesday afternoon there were still fluctuations in the fixture list.

The body were criticised for the delay in the release of the final five league fixtures with Hearts facing three away fixtures. The Tynecastle club put out a statement acknowledging the imbalances the current format inevitably gives rise to and Doncaster has sought to explain how the system works.

The chief executive appreciated the imperfections of the system but maintained that it is unlikely to be dispensed with in the near future. “The split creates tight finishes top and bottom and sometimes that means helicopter finishes on the last day of the season,” he said. “Ultimately the hallmarks of our game are passion, drama and excitement and the split creates that. It is what it is and it here for the time being and we need to make the best of it.

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“It is not that straightforward. You work with the broadcasters, with the clubs, with the police to try to get everything into position. Even as late as Wednesday afternoon things were changing to meet everyone’s different demands. “There is an awful lot of work that goes on in a short period of time. Clearly people want the fixtures as quickly as possible and that is what we want too but these things to take time because there are so many moving parts and so many people to deal with.” Much of the furore over the fixtures revolved around the perceived avoidance of a league decider involving Celtic and Rangers, a scenario that would have presented itself has they been paired in the first game after the split. As it is, it could yet transpire should Celtic fail to take all three points from Hibs at Easter Road before they face Rangers in the second game at Celtic Park. Parkhead manager Brendan Rodgers voiced his belief that any other league would seek to promote its product in order to maximise the brand and appeal to a broad church of viewers, although the infamous ‘shame game’ of 1999 is frequently quoted as the police look to balance the demands of the game with public safety. “Those are questions that are best directed towards Police Scotland because ultimately they appear to be happy with what we have ended up with. Let’s wait and see what emerges,” said Doncaster.

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“Clearly they have got to an outcome which is satisfactory to them [Police Scotland] this year but it is all about a balancing act. You can’t create the perfect set of fixtures post-split. It is just not possible mathematically. It is about trying to reconcile all the competing interests that exist and clearly some of them are public security interests, others are the club’s requirements and some are the broadcast requirements. Those are competing interests given the different picks that each broadcaster has. Coming up with a fixture list which is as balanced as it can possibly be is the name of the game.

“It is important to recognise why we have the split. As much as it creates tight finishes at the top and bottom, the primary reason why we have the split is to accommodate an appropriate number of games within a 12-team league. If you play twice home and twice away you end up with 44 fixtures, if it is once home and once away it is 22 fixtures – which isn’t enough. If you play twice home and once away you have 33 fixtures but then you have some awful imbalances. The split and the way it works at the moment minimises the imbalances.”