Jackson immediately vowed to appeal against what he called the SFL board's "outrageous" punishment for going into administration for the second time in seven years.

Dundee were instantly transported to bottom spot in the Irn-Bru First Division, 20 points behind nearest rivals Morton.

They have also been hit with a transfer embargo until they exit administration, and face the possibility of further sanctions if they do not achieve that goal by March 31.

But Jackson has issued a stark warning that they may not get that far.

The administrator estimated Dundee had a 50% chance of survival after making nine players and manager Gordon Chisholm redundant on October 15.

Dundee went into administration after being unable to pay a tax bill which then stood at £420,000 and Jackson warned there was only enough money to continue trading until Christmas.

He has been encouraged by the response of the Dundee fans since then but he now believes the club's future is under serious threat.

Jackson said: "I shall be appealing this decision by the SFL as I think that this is an outrageous punishment for the club.

"With almost guaranteed demotion from the First Division it will be much more difficult to attract investment or retain players.

"This could also ultimately affect the income of other First Division teams as we will be unable to attract a good away support if there is nothing to play for.

"Given that the club is fulfilling its fixtures with a credible team this seems a punitive and punishing blow which threatens the future existence of the club.

"Everyone involved at DFC is working hard to ensure that the club survives this administration but this penalty makes that situation much more difficult."

Jackson added: "Whilst I appreciate that the SFL had to be seen to act when the club fell into administration for the second time, it is questionable whether this punishment is not ultimately self-defeating by threatening the continued existence of the club.

"Given the support which the club has had from the team, from the supporters, and from the city of Dundee, the response of the SFL has effectively been dismissive of this support.

"We can go on in the short term but this action has made the future much less certain than it has been at any time since the administration began."

In the previous two years both Gretna and Livingston were relegated from the First to the Third Division after breaking the league's insolvency rules.

However, the punishment is at the discretion of the SFL board and Dundee's situation is complicated by the fact that they went into administration in mid-season, while the two most recent precedents were set in the summer.

SFL chief executive David Longmuir sympathised with Dundee's plight but stressed the organisation had to act in the best interests of the competition.

"This is the second time in seven years that Dundee have gone into administration and we feel it is a pretty severe issue," Longmuir said.

When put to him that the punishment could spell the end of the club, Longmuir said: "None of us want that to happen. I have to explain this in context of looking after the 30 clubs, we wish to treat all clubs with the same amount of fairness.

"I want the community of Tayside to rally round Dundee, I want to see fans get behind the club.

"Living in the area, I know how passionate people are for the club. I know what it's like to support a club like Dundee. It's your field of dreams and I want everyone to rally round Dundee Football Club."

While Dundee reacted with fury to the punishment, it is less severe than that which faced Livingston and Gretna. Gretna went out of business.

Longmuir refused to go into the specifics of each case given that Dundee have the right to appeal, with the decision now falling to the other member clubs.

But Longmuir revealed Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) had praised the ability to vary sanctions and SFL president Jim Ballantyne also defended the rule.

The Airdrie chairman said: "We regard it as a very strong rule. It puts a huge amount of responsibility on to the board of the SFL, but that is something the board is willing to accept because no two cases are exactly the same.

"There are fixed penalties down south but it doesn't stop the amount of administration cases.

"We always felt a fixed penalty can be open to abuse, in that it could be pre-planned. A team maybe throws a lot of money into a season and it doesn't work out but they are pretty safe from relegation so they take a hit for 10 points.

"In our league somebody finishing fourth or eighth, there is not much of a financial difference so it's not much of a punishment. In other leagues it could be millions of pounds.

"The rule we have got is as good as we need and what we think is best for Scottish football at our level."

The league and HMRC are set to co-operate further, with an agreement in place that will see the tax authority warn SFL officials if one of their clubs defaults on payments.

"Clubs have to realise they cannot treat their HMRC obligations as something akin to a credit card," Longmuir said.