Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
ICT want independent investigation and take swipe at Dundee chief
DUNDEE are refusing to be drawn i nto a war of words with Inverness Caley Thistle after their Championship rivals took aim at Dark Blues managing director John Nelms.
Caley yesterday issued a 2,000-word statement attacking the SPFL’s handling of the coronavirus shutdown, calling it “a disingenuous, incompetent shambles”.
They also contradicted a claim by league chief Neil Doncaster that no club had made allegations of bullying over the key vote which saw t he three divisions below the Premiership curtailed.
Just days after Rangers devoted two sections of their long-awaited dossier to the Dark Blues’ controversial vote U-turn, Caley Jags chief executive Scot Gardiner and chairman Ross Morrison put last month’s events back under the microscope.
The Ibrox side hope to persuade clubs to instigate an independent investigation i nto t he ballot at t o m o r r o w ’s g e n e r a l meeting.
Declaring their support f o r G e r s’ p r o p o s a l , Gardiner and Morrison said: “We believe that serious questions remain over the actions of the MD of one club during the now infamous vote on April 10 and what happened between the submission of their legally binding ‘No’ vote before the fake 5pm deadline.
“And five days later when they became the only club out of 42 to have ‘negotiations’ with the CEO and chairman of the SPFL and with ‘big hitters’ or persons unknown, before being allowed to vote for a second time. This time to carry the SPFL board’s resolution with a ‘ Yes’ vote.
“A genuinely independent investigation is the only possible route to try and uncover what happened and it may or may not reveal the reasoning behind their apparently contradictory statements since then.”
Caley’s dig at Nelms comes a month after Gardiner – a former Dundee chief executive and Rangers commercial sales manager – read out private WhatsApp messages i nvolving the Dens Park club on live radio.
The Dark Blues managing director was angry they had entered the public domain.
Last week the leaked exchanges i n v o lv i n g several Championship clubs f ormed par t of Rangers’ dossier.
Speaking on April 30, Nelms said: “It’s unbelievable. The way that was handled was not businesslike and was very poor.”
Meanwhile, I nverness say they were willing to testify to an allegation of bullying which they insist was reported on the day it occurred.
The Highland club, who finished runners-up in the Championship but will be denied promotion, issued the statement shortly after Doncaster told BBC Radio Scotland that discussions around t he vote were “robust” but not out of the ordinary.
The SPFL chief said: “No club has reported bullying to me and, as far as I’m aware, to (chairman) Murdoch MacLennan either.
“Clearly there are robust exchanges between clubs. We were aware particularly in the Championship that these robust conversations were ongoing but nobody reported any bullying to me.”