Rangers Football Club have served notice of its intention to go into administration.
The Glasgow club lodged legal papers at the Court of Session in Edinburgh on Monday, signalling its intentions to appoint administrators and the club now has five days in which to formally declare administrators have taken over the running of the club.
Rangers' future is uncertain due to their ongoing battle with the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) over a disputed tax bill. The club is currently awaiting a tax tribunal decision over the bill and penalties, totalling £49million.
If the club formally enters administration it will be immediately docked ten points by the Scottish Premier League, a situation that would see them fall 14-points behind Celtic in the race for the Championship.
"At this point in time Rangers are not in administration and we await developments. The instant that they are technically in administration there will be an automatic 10-point deduction and, perhaps of less relevance, an Embargo on player registrations," an SPL spokesman confirmed.
"If administration is confirmed, as we have done previously, we would be looking to work with the administrators and would be looking for a very early meeting."
The HMRC case relates to the use of employee benefits trusts , which were already in place before Craig Whyte's takeover in May.
At the time Whyte bought Sir David Murray's shares for £1 but pledged to pay off the club's debts of £18million. However he placed the club's future in jeopardy by mortgaging £24million of future season ticket revenues.