The SPL wants to stage a number of Friday night games for live broadcast by Setanta over the course of the season, a plan which could involve Dundee United.

The Association of Chief Police Officers (Scotland) has described the Friday night proposal as “unacceptable”, a view shared by the local force.

The main concern is the amount of manpower required to cover a big game when resources are already stretched dealing with alcohol-related disorder.

“Tayside Police does not support scheduling football matches on a Friday night,” said a spokesperson.

“Such events place too great a demand on police resources at a time when the demand from communities is at its highest.

“That has long been recognised by police and football authorities.

“Following the SPL/Setanta contract, and an approach from the SPL to reconsider Friday night matches, the ACPO(S) position remains the same, that Friday night matches should be avoided.”

The SPL has agreed a £54.5 million deal with satellite broadcaster Setanta, which allows them to screen 60 live games from the Scottish top flight.

It has been reported that they wanted to show games on both Sunday afternoons and Friday nights, with a 7.45 pm kick-off, and a spokesman for the SPL told the Tele they were still hopeful of being granted permission for some Friday evening fixtures.

“There are no set deadlines,” he said. “The season starts this weekend and we don’t have any Friday night games scheduled.

“The police have made some of their opinions clear. We need the co-operation of the police for any of our matches to go ahead.

“There’s still a bit of discussion to be had. We are going to be speaking to the police over the next couple of weeks and take things from there.”

Setanta bosses had hoped games would be considered on a case-by-case basis, but a spokesman said there had been “no developments.”

“Most of the games were earmarked for Monday nights, although Friday was always a possibility,” he confirmed.

“I don’t think you could say that Setanta are disappointed (by the police position), because there were no games scheduled for Friday nights anyway. It was always going to be done with the full co-operation of local police forces.”