When the SPL clubs meet on July 4 to determine an answer to one of our game's biggest questions, it could be more than the future of Rangers that is on the line, with the effects of a wrong call potentially disastrous for clubs across the country.
The news Charles Green had submitted an application for his newco Rangers to be granted permission to play in the top flight next season came as no surprise, yet confusion and conjecture will continue to surround the Ibrox club until a decision is reached.
As things stand, Rangers have four potential opponents for their first match of the new campaign, depending on whether they are given an SPL place, parachuted into the Irn-Bru First Division – with Dundee or Dunfermline taking their SPL berth – or handed the ultimate sanction and demoted to the Third Division.
Nothing can be said for certain regarding Rangers' future, with everyone involved in our national game having an opinion on what, if any, sanctions should be placed on the club after they were condemned to liquidation.
The punishments on offer are wide-ranging, but Morton chairman Douglas Rae admits justice being done must be top of the agenda.
"I think there is no chance of Rangers being relegated to the Third Division," Rae told SportTimes. "I think they will either remain within the SPL or be relegated to the First Divi- sion, possibly the latter on balance.
"They could be relegated to the First Division to show that they have received a punishment. I think Rangers have got to be punished, without a doubt. If that had been a Kilmarnock, or someone of that ilk, there would be no debate about what would happen.
"They would have said 'this is what is happening to you, there are no arguments'. Rangers have already had a lot of special consideration which, if it had been a lesser team, would not have happened.
"Rangers have to be punished. They share that view, but their problem is they feel the punishments the SFA and SPL want to lay down are excessive. Fair is not just balance on the Rangers side, it has to be fair for football. They have to treat it the same as any other team.
"Charles Green said that the SFA should sit down with them and discuss their punishment and negotiate it. I think that is rubbish. You don't walk up to court and say to the judge 'I think you and I should discuss what would be a fair punishment for what I have done'. They have got to be punished. Justice must be seen to be done."
While supporters and clubs across the SPL may be willing to hand down a severe sanction to Rangers and reject their proposal to transfer their league share to Green's newco, those in the SFL will undoubtedly welcome the Ibrox side with open arms.
The financial benefits of having Rangers in the lower leagues would be considerable for the 29 other member clubs, and Rae admits he would have no qualms about seeing the Glasgow giants slotted into Scotland's second tier for next season.
He said: "From a personal point of view, I would not be unhappy about it. I know it would diminish your chances of winning promotion to the SPL for one year, but you would get the benefit of Rangers for one year.
"We just need to wait and see what transpires because nothing is sure or for certain at this moment. I have spoken to various people who have got positions of authority and they have said the same thing, we don't know what the outcome will be."
Rangers' route into the First Division may seem an accept-able compromise for many, but significant hurdles will need to be overcome for that scenario to unfold.
Speculation regarding a revamp of our leagues, and a switch to an SPL1 and SPL2 could prove the way ahead, allowing for Rangers to be punished while keeping them within the Premier League structure.
The SFA is reportedly keen to rubber stamp the radical overhaul before the start of the new campaign, but Rae has serious reservations about a quickfire change.
He said: "An SPL2 would allow Rangers to just be slipped into that league. The formation of SPL2 could not be decided retrospectively, however. You have to play for it, you can't just do it. It can't come down to teams who have the biggest attendances or anything like that. You have to play for it.
"There are so many variables that it is impossible to come to a hard and fast ruling. I have discussed it with my board yet the circumstances have all changed since then. It is very difficult to have a view on things.
"I am just letting it ride out through the storm and then we will see where we are once it has finalised. It is liable to change a lot and very quickly."
