A landmark legal challenge could open the door to Celtic and Rangers leaving the SPFL, according to a top sports lawyer.
FC Swift Hesperange of Luxembourg are attempting to take UEFA to court over rules blocking them from taking part in a cross-border league with clubs from Belgium and the Netherlands. Swift want to be allowed to join a proposed Benelux League and are prepared to fight European football's governing body and the Luxembourgh Football Federation.
The case could potentially herald a major shift in the continent's football landscape and once again raise the prospect of Scotland's two biggest clubs departing the Premiership for a multinational division with access to higher TV revenue. Swift are arguing that "rules prohibiting clubs from creating and running transnational competitions" are blocking the club's potential for growth and have lodged a claim that could go all the way to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
And Jean-Louis Dupont, one of the lawyers behind the historic Bosman ruling back in 1995, has told the Daily Mail that if Swift are successful, the ruling could pave the way for the likes of Celtic and Rangers to "match the production power of the big leagues" by looking abroad. He said: "Clubs will not "move". But clubs from small countries would be entitled to produce their domestic football in a larger territory, in order to match the production power of the big leagues.
"Celtic and Rangers are great clubs. But how much do they get for their media rights compared to the smallest Premier League club? And this is the lack of domestic incomes that determines negatively their competitiveness on the European stage."
Dupont also represents the company behind the European Super League project and insists there is "common ground" between the two cases. He said: "Intellectually, there is a common ground: in both cases, some clubs challenge the EU legality of UEFA's monopoly on the organisation and management of transnational club competitions."
Dupont refused to put a timescale on the rise of cross-border leagues but believes they will arrive "sooner rather than later". In 2020, Celtic, Rangers, Aberdeen, Hibs and Hearts were approached over plans for a breakaway "Atlantic League" also involving clubs from the Republic of Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
Formulated by Irish sports investor Andrew Doyle, the proposed project ground to a halt when Celtic majority shareholder Dermot Desmond distanced the Parkhead club from the idea.
