FOR a moment yesterday the long-running dispute among England's professional clubs over relegation and promotion seemed likely to be settled. Then, just as quickly, hopes were dashed by the two warring parties.

First Brian Baister, chairman of the Rugby Football Union's management board, said the dispute between English First Division Rugby and English Second Division Rugby over access to the Zurich Premiership would be resolved imminently. Then came a denial last night by both EFDR and ESDR, who appear unable to sidestep their way off a legal minefield.

"I have been talking with EFDR in the form of Tom Walkinshaw (chairman) every day for the last week," said Baister. "Things are almost there. I have called an emergency meeting of the management board for Friday and an emergency meeting of the RFU council to ratify the agreement with EFDR and ESDR."

Howard Thomas, chief executive of EFDR, said that was news to him. "It is an interesting statement, and detailed discussions have taken place with the RFU. But there is no sign of white smoke as far as we are concerned. The attitude of ESDR has hardened recently and they are showing little willingness to compromise.

"We have a board meeting on Tuesday and the next week is going to be crucial. ESDR have made a number of demands which go beyond promotion and relegation and our message to the RFU is simple.

"We turned down the opportunity last year to go into a British league, which would have been worth £2.2m to every club, because the RFU came up with a plan for elite rugby in England which ring-fenced the top clubs.

"The RFU has been unable to implement that plan and the upshot has been they have held back funding from EFDR clubs. This is a constitutional crisis and we are running out of time. The RFU have to stick with what they promised."

The current position is that the bottom club in the Premiership will swap positions with the National One champions for two seasons, after which the door will be closed permanently, the upshot of a meeting in Leicester in August.

ESDR this week instituted legal action against EFDR claiming that meeting was unlawful, and its acting chairman, the Wakefield director Peter Bulless, denied that ESDR were being militant and uncompromising.

"Nothing could be further from the truth," he said. "All 14 of our clubs turned up for the Popplewell inquiry into this problem when we would have been within our rights to demand that the RFU observe the change to its constitution last year which enshrined the principle of two up and two down throughout the entire league structure.

"It is because we are willing to compromise that we have been talking, but I was flabbergasted when I read that the RFU said a settlement was imminent. There will not be one until EFDR agrees to one up and one down not for the next two years but for the future."