Football club FC Twente officials said on Friday they are to go to court in an effort to stop the KNVB demoting the club to the Jupiler League.

The Dutch football association’s players council said earlier this week the club should be sent down one league next season for failing to get its finances in order. The club had risked having its professional licence removed altogether.

Club spokesman Jan Schutrups told reporters on Friday that Twente had met all the conditions for keeping its licence which had been agreed with the KNVB last December. Twente would, therefore, fight the demotion decision in court, he said.

‘This is about the future of the club,’ interim director Onno Jacobs said. ‘I’m not saying this for dramatic effect – it is the bitter reality if this decision is pushed through.’

The KNVB has yet to take a final decision on the club’s future, but Schutrups said that could be too late. ‘Demotion means that a large number of our financial agreements would fall apart or come under pressure,’ he said.

Jupiler league clubs have also protested about the KNVB move. Several clubs are currently involved in relegation battles and the FC Twente situation will pose an added problem, the clubs said.