Hearts have been given a legal lifeline from Belgium after Waasland-Beveren’s relegation was overturned.
The Jambos, along with Partick Thistle, are preparing for an SFA arbitration tribunal and hoping for the same result after both were relegated as a result of the season being ended early.
And the SPFL will be casting worrying glances across to the low countries after the Belgian Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned a similar call in the Jupiler League.
Their season was declared on 15 May with Club Brugge being awarded the Belgian title.
But Beveren unsurprisingly challenged the decision and have been reinstated by the CBAS as a result.
The Scottish Premiership fixtures were published on Monday based on things remaining as they are and while the same thing happened in Belgium, that didn’t deter the court from reversing Beveren’s.
"We never lost hope,” said club spokesman Martijn De Jonghe.
"We found it very odd that the fixtures were already released while legal proceedings were still under way
"It's a small victory, even if we obviously don't know what's going to happen next."
While its’ far from guaranteed that the arbitration tribunal will find in Hearts’ favour, this could set a legal precedent that they could take to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne should they wish to keep fighting.
Time is tight if they want to realistically be reinstated to the top flight, due to kick-off on 1 August, with the Championship campaign not due to start until 17 October.
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