The SFA has taken a vow of silence over St Mirren being refused a UEFA licence.
News emerged this morning in The Sun that the Paisley side had been turned down meaning that if they win the Scottish Cup they won’t be allowed to take part in next season’s Europa League Play-Off.
It is more than a decade since a club from outside of Glasgow featured in group stage matches but the Scottish Cup winners face a Play-Off for a Europa League place with the safety net of the new look UEFA Conference if they lose out.
Going forward to those matches should net the Scottish Cup winners at least £3m but it seems that St Mirren will be denied that opportunity if they beat St Johnstone on Sunday and go on to lift the trophy.
BBC Scotland reports:
Premiership rivals Livingston, Hamilton Academical and Ross County also fail to fulfil the required criteria.
Each season the Scottish FA publishes licensing awards, with St Mirren receiving an overall ‘gold’ rating, while other top flight sides classified ‘silver’ have been granted the Uefa licence.
While the reasons for the refusal have not been divulged, the ruling can be contested.
Uefa introduced a mandatory club licensing system in 2004 to tackle issues such as financial transparency and instability, inadequate stadia, overdue payments and lack of youth investment.
Unlike UEFA and most European associations the SFA doesn’t have any worthwhile Financial Fair Play rules despite losing Airdrieonians, Gretna and Rangers over the last 20 years.SFA