Dunfermline have been deducted 15 points after Dunfermline Athletic Football Club Ltd entered interim administration two weeks ago.
The club will also be subjected to a registration embargo for players aged over 21 until DAFCL exit administration. Bryan Jackson, the PKF accountant who is now running the club, described the sanction as "a fair punishment".
The deduction moves Dunfermline to second bottom of the Irn-Bru First Division, the relegation play-off spot, but it does not condemn them to the drop since they are now only three points behind Cowdenbeath, although the Fife club has a game in hand.
Jackson will return to the Court of Session tomorrow with the expectation that DAFCL will formally be placed in full administration after Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs launched a winding-up order petition last month over an unpaid tax bill of £134,000. The club will have until the beginning of next season to exit administration through a Company Voluntary Arrangement and so avoid further sanctions.
"The Scottish Football League regrets the current situation that Dunfermline Athletic FC finds itself in," said the SFL in a statement. "We are fully aware of the impact this situation has had on all concerned, especially players, staff and fans of the club. The SFL has a duty to protect the integrity and on-going smooth-running of the League and therefore following a thorough process, the SFL Board has decided that Dunfermline Athletic Football Club Limited is guilty of conduct contrary to League rules, the interests of the League and its member clubs.
"In the event of a CVA not having been approved by the commencement of next season or approved but subsequently overturned by order of court, and Dunfermline Athletic remain in administration as a consequence, then a further 10-point penalty deduction will be imposed and a financial guarantee of £150,000 will be required to protect the League against future risk. In the face of current challenges, our ultimate aim is to ensure that clubs survive and communities continue to have a local team to support."
Dunfermline can appeal, and although the manager, Jim Jefferies, described the punishment as "extremely harsh", he does not yet know if the club will seek to challenge it.
"There is no set rule, but we thought it would be around 10 points," Jefferies said. "Fifteen points makes things a lot harder. We are being quite severely punished for something which was not the players' fault, but we might just have to take it on the chin and get on with it. Also, an appeal may cost money that we don't have – it is something we would need to discuss as a club."
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