Hopes of a swift resolution over the foreign satellite issue look to have been scuppered after a delay over the High Court appeal process.
Portsmouth licensee Karen Murphy is hoping to have her case heard in the High Court, after she failed in her Crown Court appeal earlier this year against a conviction for screening live Premier League football using a foreign satellite system.
However the FA Premier League (FAPL) has claimed that Paul Dixon, the solicitor representing Murphy, has missed the deadline for submitting the appeal.
Dan Johnson, the FAPL's chief spokesman, said: "It is a matter of record that Mr Dixon has missed the deadline for submitting Murphy's appeal to the High Court.
"However, we find it more than a little surprising given his previous stance on this matter after Murphy lost both at Magistrates and Crown Court level, indeed we were looking forward to being able to lay this issue to rest once and for all."
But Dixon, of legal firm Molesworths Bright Clegg, responded: "As much as the FAPL might hope that Karen Murphy's appeal will not proceed so that they can resume their relentless pursuit of hard working publicans, the simple fact of the matter is that vital paperwork from Portsmouth Crown which triggers the High Court appeal procedure has had to be returned to Portsmouth for correction.
"The appeal procedure only commences when HHJ Pearson at Portsmouth Crown Court is happy with the papers."
Meanwhile the FAPL said it would "continue to take the appropriate action against licensees who continue to flout the law as well as pursuing the suppliers of these illegal systems."