Celtic chief Dermot Desmond is pursuing an idea of creating a league set up with teams from the British Isles - according to a report.
It’s a blow to plans to resurrect the Atlantic League proposals that had been made which would have seen five Scottish clubs potentially move.
But now The Times reports that Celtic have decided they no longer want to be involved in an Atlantic League and are chasing a British League instead.
It’s added to the fears over Covid-19 and the European ‘Super League’ that was mooted from English clubs and shelved discussions over an Atlantic League.
Rangers, Aberdeen, Hibs and Hearts were all also included in documents about an Atlantic League, while holding on to their SFA and SPFL membership and allowing relegations playoffs so other Scottish Premiership teams could join them.
That would have seen them go up against teams from Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Ireland, with sides such as Copenhagen, Malmo and Rosenborg all included.
But Desmond’s decision to focus on a British League means it is now a non-runner.
One shareholder from the league, Andrew Doyle, emailed stakeholders to let them know of Desmond’s decision and is quoted in The Times as saying: “We received a call a few weeks ago from the principal shareholder of Celtic to say that he and Celtic were not interested in pursuing the project any further, preferring the status quo or the concept of a British isles league.
"This was both a surprise and a disappointment to us given our lengthy engagement with the clubs and our success in receiving proposals for underwriting the league worth well over one billion euros. However, of course, we must respect their decision."
