Dundee administrator Bryan Jackson immediately announced plans to appeal after the SFL board announced the sanctions imposed on the Irn-Bru First Division club for breaking insolvency rules.
The league showed more leniency than they had to Gretna and Livingston, both demoted from the First to the Third Division in recent years, but Jackson claimed the decision was "outrageous" and put the club's existence in serious doubt.
Dundee chief executive Harry MacLean was also in shock after what he termed a "horrific" decision but he also sounded a defiant tone and called for supporters to do the same when Dundee host Partick Thistle on Saturday.
MacLean told the club's official website: "We need as many people to come along here on Saturday as possible. I'm not talking about four or four-and-a-half thousand people, I'm talking about getting the place full of Dundee supporters to protest this decision.
"What the SFL have done is put us 20 points adrift, which is in effect relegation halfway through the season. They are leaving our remaining players with an impossible mission to try and stay in the league. They speak about integrity and this decision shows that they are really not interested in integrity.
"They had (Dunfermline director of football) Jim Leishman on the board, who could have been present. One of the most honourable men in Scottish football, who wasn't allowed to sit in through conflict of interest and yet we've got Second Division reps putting Dundee 20 points adrift at the bottom of the league - take from that what you will."
He added: "This has dramatically reduced our chances of getting external investment.
"Anyone who has any interest in Dundee Football Club will be sickened by this decision but we need them to come along and back their club - whether it be someone who hasn't been here in 10 years or 20 years. If we thought we were in a fight for survival it's got a million times worse and we need to fight together.
"Never before in our history have we faced such a mammoth task and this is the time to decide whether we stand and fight or run away."
Source: PA
Source: PA