Saints chairman Steve Brown insists he would be setting a dangerous precedent if he was to back down in the increasingly bitter “Battle for Brittain”.
Ross County skipper Richie Brittain signed a pre-contract with Saints in January, but subsequently attempted to perform a U-turn saying he did not want to play in Perth.
Brown insisted the midfielder should honour their agreement however, County have now registered the player with the SFA for next season.
The McDiarmid supremo has held talks with his Staggies counterpart Roy MacGregor in a bid to reach an agreement, but the two clubs are at an impasse.
Brown is now looking for clarity from the game’s ruling bodies on the whole situation as new boss Tommy Wright prepares his squad for their first Europa League qualifier on July 18.
Brown said: “Richie is a St Johnstone player. We are still speaking to Ross County and that will continue, but we are looking for the football authorities to make a decision one way or the other.
“There are going to be a few question marks over pre-contracts are they worth the paper they are written on, or are they not?
“In my eyes, a contract is a contract. From our point of view, you can put the technicalities and legalities to one side.
Morally, he committed to us in January. St Johnstone also committed in January and we could easily have changed our minds as well but we didn’t even when it looked as though he had a serious knee injury at the end of last season.”
He added: “If he is not to be a St Johnstone player, we would like to be told by the authorities.
“It is a bit messy to say the least, but from our point of view, we would like to get it sorted out fairly soon. It is a distraction for everybody at the club.
“It is not good for Ross County and it cannot be good for Richie Brittain. So we are really looking to push the authorities to make a decision.
“I have got on really well with Roy for years but I have told him I am disappointed by the turn of events. I was hoping that we could agree things amicably but I can’t as chairman rip up a pre-contract.
“That would set a dangerous precedent. Even locally, Dundee United have players on pre-contracts and I don’t want to be the chairman who nullifies that.
“Someone will have to tell me that I have to release Richie Brittain, I will not be doing that voluntarily.”
Another reason for Brown’s stance is that Brittain was identified as a key component for the coming season after Liam Craig made it known he intended to move to Hibs this summer.
The chairman said: “With Liam leaving for Hibs, we needed a left-sided midfielder.
“We thought Richie was the answer and we have not targeted any other left-sided players, so if he is to go we will have to start looking for a replacement and it is quite late in the day.”
He added: “It is getting to the stage where it is more than an irritant, it is getting beyond that.”
Meanwhile, manager Wright expects Brittain to report for the start of pre-season next week.
He said: “I am of the opinion that until I’m told otherwise, he’ll be reporting for training on the 27th. We’ve sympathised with Richie’s problems, but that’s no different to what somebody might be facing during a season.
“We’ve told him we’ll help him. If he refuses to come, it won’t be me who decides what happens.”
However, Ross County boss Derek Adams yesterday stated that Brittain has now agreed a playing contract with the Dingwall side and would definitely report to the Global Energy Stadium for pre-season training later this month.
The Staggies boss said: “Richard will start pre-season with us at the end of this month. We have registered him with the SFA and to do that he had to sign a contract with Ross County.
“He is a Ross County player. I wouldn’t like to comment on the terms of his contract as that is obviously political.
“We still have the stumbling block of St Johnstone having registered him with the SPL. As things stand, Richard couldn’t play for Ross County in the league but neither could he play for St Johnstone. So at the moment, it is all up in air.
“It is a difficult situation for St Johnstone as well as for the player and ourselves.
“But the whole pre-contract scenario is one Uefa and Fifa do not like, and managers don’t like it either because it unsettles players. Richard will be starting pre-season with us, and hopefully featuring in our first friendlies in July.”