REBEL clubs could find they are powerless to prevent newco Rangers playing in the First Division.
Lower-league outfits Raith, Morton and Falkirk have all spoken out against Charles Green’s club being put into the second tier if they are refused entry to the SPL.
They reckon if the SPL are so interested in sporting integrity the Light Blues should be banished to the Third Division.
However, the SFL say the decision to accept Rangers into the First Division could require the backing of only 16 of their 30 members, not 22 as previously believed.
An SFL spokesman said: “We’re not sure where the 75 per cent figure came from but it isn’t in our rules.”
The League Management Committee are now set to propose a voting structure, with a straight majority call the most likely outcome.
SFL clubs will gather on Tuesday at Hampden for informal talks on the way ahead, 24 hours before the SPL meet to almost certainly deny newco Rangers entry into the top flight.
The SPL have put together an incentive package as they plead to the SFL for help in bailing them out of the Rangers crisis.
There will be play-offs introduced at the end of the season between the SPL and First Division and SFL clubs have been offered £1million by the SPL next season in return for television rights.
There are plans to merge the two bodies to become the SPFL next summer, as we also revealed, with a more equal distribution of cash and the introduction of a pyramid structure and regionalised football in the lower leagues.
The proposals are likely to go to a formal vote by SFL clubs the week after next. A number of them want to squeeze more concessions from the SPL and feel there is still some work to do before they are persuaded.