Glasgow Rangers lost their appeal at the Scottish Football Association’s appeals tribunal when their claim that they were being unduly punished for Craig Whyte’s financial misdemeanours was rejected. Whyte withheld £13 million of tax and VAT which should have gone to the taxman. The club was also fined £160,000 for gross misconduct and bringing the game into disrepute.
The tribunal, which was headed by Lord Carloway, said in their summing up that it was right for the original disciplinary tribunal to ban the registration of new players over the age of 18 for 12 months. They also said that it was right that offence was attributable to the club as a member of the Scottish Football Association and that the tribunal was right to raise the maximum fine of £100,000 to £160,000 in this case as it was so serious.
It actually could have been much worse for Rangers. They could have been expelled from the Scottish game or had their membership of the SFA suspended either of which would have had dire consequences for the club. Rangers complained about the effects of the restriction on transfers but the tribunal ruled that this was correct as the club had brought the game into disrepute. The club can still extend contracts for existing players.
The ruling will throw doubts on the future of the consortium who are trying to get a creditors’ agreement next month allowing the club to come out of administration, hopefully in time for the start of next season. The consortium is headed by Charles Green, the former chief executive of Sheffield United and apparently consists of a further 20 investors who remain unidentified.