The SPFL have confirmed they have responded to the Court of Session petition launched by Hearts and Partick Thistle.
The two clubs are furious they have been relegated from the Premiership and Championship and after league reconstruction was rejected, decided to take a legal route to fight it.
And now the governing body have responded to their claims in their own submission to the Court of Session which will allow the case to move forward.
An SPFL spokesperson said: “We can confirm that our answers to the petition have been lodged with the Court of Session.”
Hearts and Thistle's bid to stop relegation has angered the likes of Dundee United and Raith Rovers who, along with Cove Rangers, released a joint statement criticising the battle.
If relegation is stopped that could result in the trio having their promotion reversed and remaining in last season's leagues.
Both Hearts and Thistle have been contacted by the SFA who could punish them for taking a legal route.
Record Sport exclusively revealed compliance officer Claire Whyte was to launch her own investigation and had spoke to both clubs.
Meanwhile, the SPFL have made an attempt to get clubs to hand over power to them should a second wave of COVID-19 force football to be stopped again next season.
The decision to call the leagues this time around result in weeks of angry statements and a civil war that threatened to ruin Scottish football for a long time.
A letter sent to clubs claims "SPFL rules do not adequately cover the situation where a season has to be curtailed, with a number of games remaining to be played".
And it warns that if they don't approve the proposals it could lead to another bout of the "division" that engulfed the Scottish game from when it was put on pause in March.
It would avoid a repeat of the vote to end the Scottish season which passed after Dundee 's 'no' vote was changed to approve the SPFL resolution.
