A 15-member SPFL task force, with representatives from clubs across all divisions plus the Highland League, had been formed to discuss the potential to reconfigure the Scottish divisions amid the coronavirus outbreak which has halted the 2019-20 campaign.
Already the Scottish Championship, League One and League Two seasons had been ended, while hope remains for the Premiership to be completed if possible.
However, in the event the Premiership cannot be completed it appears Hearts will certainly be relegated, with the latest decision from top flight clubs determining it’s not the right time to re-structure the SPFL pyramid.
It had been proposed by the SPFL task force that the top flight could expand from 12 teams to 14, enabling Hearts and 11th placed Hamilton Academical to avoid relegation this season, with Championship top two Dundee United and Inverness Caledonian Thistle promoted.
To follow that the task force had explored creating three divisions of 14 clubs as opposed to four divisions of 12, 10, 10 and 10 clubs.
The proposals needed the approval of Scottish Premiership clubs, who met on Friday along with Dundee United, but decided against reconstruction due to the financial challenges faced by the game amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking on behalf of the top flight clubs, Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack said: “The strong feeling of the group was that we must focus all of our energies on emerging from the crisis we face, due to the pandemic, on getting back to playing football safely and getting fans back into grounds as soon as practicably possible.
“Whilst the group sympathises with the plight of the situation the relegated teams are faced with, it concluded that this is not the right time to consider immediate reconstruction in the midst of a crisis.
“But the group is willing to engage in and pick up on these discussions once we are through COVID-19.”
The decision has left numerous clubs furious, including those challenging for promotion from lower divisions, including Falkirk and Highland League pair Kelty Hearts and Brora Rangers who hoped to join a 16-team third tier.
Edinburgh club Hearts, whose chair Ann Budge was on the SPFL task force, haven’t been relegated from the top flight since 1977.