Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack is already talking to other clubs because he believes the European Court of Justice’s ruling “will be the Trojan horse towards” a European Super League.
It added that did not mean a breakaway league would “necessarily be approved”.
But Cormack expects the ESL to happen and that it will mean huge changes in Scottish football.
“This will be the Trojan horse towards a European Super League and ultimately cross-border leagues, because when the biggest clubs leave their national leagues the commercial value for the remaining teams will plunge,” he said on X, formerly Twitter.
“Replacing the three European competitions will be approximately 60 clubs forming three leagues based on ranking and being guaranteed a minimum 14 European club games each season.
“The only opportunity for clubs ranked 61+ will be to go through qualification rounds to enter the third league only, where there will be relegation.”
Cormack says he has already held talks with “like-minded clubs” designed to ensure access to European football, because the consequence of the court ruling would be to double the financial gap between Celtic and Rangers and the rest of Scottish football.
“As usual, in Scotland, we have slept-walked our way into this without any discussion. Your board at Aberdeen FC has been expecting this decision for some time,” he added.
“Throughout our history, including this season’s group stages, the appetite for European football if anything has grown significantly.
“We are working with like minded clubs across Europe to make sure we do our utmost to deliver European club competition with similarly competitive clubs, the absence of which will lead to double the current gap in finances versus Celtic and Rangers, who will be included in those 60 ranked teams.”
The case was brought to the ECJ by the ESL and its backers, claiming Uefa and Fifa were breaking competition law by threatening to sanction those who joined the breakaway league.
Following the judgement, Uefa said it was “confident in the robustness” of rules while ESL backers A22 have released revamped proposals.