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In a nine to three majority the SPL clubs voted in favour of a motion which will ensure the Pars board must seek the approval of an SPL Executive Board before using the XL Turf next season.
A request for permssion to deploy a plastic pitch for nest season will have to be lodged with the SPL Excecutive Board before the end of the month, with a decision consequently taken by July 1.
Considering that the SPL Board is made up of Lex Gold, Dundee Utd Chairman Eddie Thompson, Rangers Chairman John McClelland, Kilmarnock Chairman Jamie Moffat and Hibs Chairman Rod Petrie - the latter four all voting for the motion - chances of a plastic pitch being used at East End next season looks very bleak indeed.
With UEFA stating their intention not to enter into the dispute, the Pars look set to lose out on £400k worth of revenue, dealing a huge blow to the already fragile financial state of the club.
With Hearts and Motherwell the only teams to have supported the Pars in today's vote, Scottish football seems to have delivered a unanimous 'NO' to plastic pitches. And no matter how much this latest development will damage the Pars financially, few football fans will be unhappy to see a departure of the farcical East End Park surface.