Who knows? At some point in the next few days the NL will sit down with a group of lawyers, at some cost, and possibly armed with a stack of proposals from NL members to discuss its process for reaching a solution on the season’s outcome. Whilst I’m not a lawyer myself I’ve spent many hours with them over the years in not totally dissimilar situations and in practice I think the legal advice might come down to some key principles or tests for decisions that are made:
Firstly have decisions been made from a process that is demonstrably fair and reasonable? Any decision that was made for reasons of expediency or without proper consideration might not be legal. This could counter the argument used by some that the outcome should not matter in such a time of crisis and we should just shut things down. Whilst an understandable position, it probably wouldn't fly legally
Secondly has the process been demonstrably equitable to its members. So any process where a bias could be demonstrated to a club or group of clubs in the decision making process would not be legally sound. I would consider promotion without relegation as potentially falling into this category. I expect the advice to be “stay consistent”.
Thirdly in making its decision has the NL remained within its legal mandate or rules of association. I think the NL will be strongly counselled not to bend or change their rules in any way as a means of finding a solution. So for example ideas that involve having a single play-off game between 1st and 2nd place for which there is no previous context should be avoided.
Fourthly, the story suggests that the legal advice might be to the NL that even if they can demonstrate these tests have been met, they may find themselves in a position that is technically legal but is not considered desirable or acceptable to other stakeholders, in this case the EFL. It is this consideration that will probably determine the fate of a “voiding” option.
What these tests will do is weed out the non-starters. Ultimately all roads ultimately lead back to basics but the most simple, obvious and all-embracing solutions will be the one they find most difficult to agree on.
