WHAT if?

The most asked question in Scottish football of late has often proved to be the most problematic to answer. A new season is almost upon us but old difficulties remain. Clubs who overreached in trying to deliver success are now in danger of being dealt the harshest of penalties.

Pars United, the Dunfermline Athletic fans group, will discover at high noon today whether their proposal to take the club out of administration is given the thumbs up from the assorted creditors. The hope is that a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) can be agreed and that senior football will go on in the town, albeit in the relatively humble setting of the third tier of Scottish football. There is uncertainty, however, regarding just how Gavin Masterton, the former majority shareholder, may decide to act and his vote could prove crucial.

Hearts might not even get to that juncture. The announcement from Ukio Bankas yesterday that they were unimpressed with the offers on the table for the stricken club means that the bidders may not even get to present their case to the creditors. The official response from the Foundation of Hearts, the amalgam of fans groups looking to take the club into community ownership, was that it was "business as usual" while calling for any supporters still hesitating to pledge to the cause.

It will be between them and Five Stars Football Ltd, the group fronted by Angelo Massone – the one-time Livingston chief executive, in the battle for control – although Ukio's threat to bypass that process and go straight to liquidation – allowing them to profit from the sale of Tynecastle – has placed Hearts' future in jeopardy. It may simply be an act of brinksmanship from the Lithuanian bank's administrators to try to wring out a few extra quid from those interested but it is not something that BDO, Hearts' administrators, can afford to take lightly. If it becomes apparent that Ukio will not sign off on a CVA, then BDO will have little choice but to put the club into liquidation.

And then what? The inaugural Scottish Professional Football League season kicks off on Friday and among its first acts could be to watch over the demise of two of its most prominent clubs. Hearts will start the campaign at the foot of the new SPFL Premiership courtesy of a 15-point deduction doled out to them for going into administration. Dunfermline, if they fail to get out of administration today, will, in theory, start the new SPFL League One season 10 points behind the rest.

The reality, of course, will be far more drastic for both clubs should liquidation prove the outcome. Unlike in Rangers' situation, there is no proviso in place in the case of an unsuccessful CVA. Nobody has signed up to fill the Charles Green role by snapping up the assets at either Tynecastle or East End Park, the latter situation made even more complicated by the fact that the company that owes the Dunfermline stadium is also in administration. Should there be a move to start up a newco Hearts or Dunfermline in the worst case scenario, then there is no chance of either being in a position to start the new season.

All of which would give the new SPFL a major headache. There was nothing in place to cover this eventuality in the old Scottish Premier League guidelines, an omission that led to a summer of squabbling and rancour last year once it became clear that Rangers would be heading for liquidation.

The SPFL have yet to publish the updated rules for the organisation as their website, surprisingly, will not be up and running until next month, but Herald Sport has learnt there are provisions in place this time relating to a "Club Ceasing to Operate, Participate in and/or be a Member of the League". The wording is predictably vague, with more and/ors than the draw for an early round of the Europa League. The ruling reads: "If, for any reason and during or after any Season, any Club ceases to operate or participate in or to be member of the League or any Play-Off Competition, its playing record in the League and/or any Play-Off Competitions may be expunged by the Board and/or the Board may determine the deemed score in the remainder of its Official Matches and/or the Board may take such steps and make such determinations as to League and Divisional position and/or promotion and/or relegation and participation and/or results in and outcome of any Play-Off Competition and/or any other competition operated by the Company and any and all such further or other steps or measures as the Board shall consider appropriate in the circumstances."

The most likely outcome, however, would be to expunge a club's results and remove the points accrued against them from the other sides. Should Hearts fold once the season has started, the SPFL Premiership would then likely limp on as an 11-club division for the remainder of the season, with SPFL League One being similarly reduced to nine clubs should Dunfermline fall. That was the outcome in the League of Ireland in 2012 when Monaghan United withdrew midway through the campaign and had their record expunged. It is a situation the SPFL will be desperate to avoid but one that could well become a reality in the weeks or months ahead.