Hearts and Partick Thistle today lodged a petition with the Court of Session to challenge what they describe as the "unfair and unjust" decision of the SPFL to "enforce relegations to the extreme detriment of those clubs affected".
A resolution that was passed by the majority of the 42 SPFL member clubs in April decided final placings in the Championship, League One and League Two on a points per game basis.
And it also gave the SPFL board the power to take the same action in the Premiership at a later date amid the coronavirus crisis - which they duly did last month.
A proposal to change from a 12-10-10-10 league set-up to a 14-10-10-10 structure was rejected by 26 senior clubs on Monday - meaning that Hearts, Partick Thistle and Stranraer were all relegated.
Hearts and Partick have now joined forces to challenge the rulings on promotion and relegation.
They revealed they will not be seeking to reverse the decisions on the clubs who were crowned champions and have been put forward to compete in Europe next season.
They stressed they have not asked the court to grant an interim interdict to prevent next season from starting as scheduled on August 1.
But they did admit they would "reserve our right to do so in the event that becomes necessary".
A joint statement issued by both clubs this afternoon read: "Unfortunately, Scottish football has been unable to pull together at this time of national crisis to prevent the need for this legal challenge. We desperately hoped court action would not be necessary, but we were left with no other option.
"For clarity, our petition does not seek to set aside or unravel the fee payments made to clubs, nor indeed the declaration of champions, or the nomination of clubs who will participate in European competition.
"Instead, the petition primarily seeks to reduce the unfair resolution insofar as it changed the SPFL’s rules on promotion and relegation.
"If that remedy is not granted by the Court, we seek, in the alternative, awards of compensation relative to the significant financial loss which the unfair relegations will visit upon us.
"As matters stand, we have not asked the court to grant an interim interdict which would prevent next season commencing on August 1. However, we have to reserve our right to do so in the event that becomes necessary.
"We would emphasise instead that we have no wish to disrupt Scottish football, but rather our aim is to have the proceedings litigated to a conclusion as quickly as possible.
"In that regard, the Court has today granted our motion to reduce the normal period within which the SPFL must answer our petition, to seven days."
An SPFL spokesman said: “Our solicitors have this evening received a petition from Heart of Midlothian PLC and The Partick Thistle Football Club Limited. We are studying this carefully, along with our legal advisers, and it is not therefore appropriate to comment further at this time.”
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