BATON ROUGE - The LHSAA says they’ll go back to five football championships in 2016 after it was determined that the decision to move to the highly controversial “split” playoffs system in 2013 violated the association constitution.

The decision comes just two weeks ahead of the LHSAA’s annual convention at the end of January.

With the change in place, the football playoffs will return to the traditional postseason setup of Classes 1A through 5A effective immediately.

The constitutional snag comes after a check performed by the LHSAA’s legal counsel. The measure was voted on by the association’s membership but should have been approved by the LHSAA Executive Committee, which is a violation of article 8.7.2 of the LHSAA constitution.

The article’s text is as follows:

“Divisions involving two or more classifications may be created by the Executive Committee to provide competition in cetain sports.”

The article means that only the LHSAA Board has the power to approve such changes as the 2013 switch to a split playoff system.