SPFL will now draw line under EBT saga

THE BOARD of the SPFL will today shelve plans for an independent review into Scottish football’s handling of the Rangers EBT saga. The SFA had rejected an SPFL request earlier this month to review the deeply divisive issue, with chief executive Stewart Regan claiming Celtic were the only club who wanted it. The Parkhead side claimed a failure to conduct an open review would represent a ‘failure in transparency, accountability and leadership’. However, Rangers, Aberdeen, Hibernian and Kilmarnock are amongst those teams who have already declared a public desire to move on. And despite approving a letter to the SFA requesting a review at their last meeting, an SPFL board including Ann Budge of Hearts, Hamilton chairman Les Gray, Martin Ritchie of Falkirk, Morton’s Warren Hawke and Iain Dougan of Stranraer are set to lay the matter to rest at Hampden today after accepting that a root

and branch investigation could prove impossible without the co-operation of the SFA. Privately, Rangers are angry that the SPFL’s letter to the SFA featured a headline calling for a review into the use of Employee Benefits Trusts they hadn’t agreed to. However, SPFL sources have played down suggestions league chief executive Neil Doncaster will come under pressure at today’s board meeting, telling Sportsmail the letter to the SFA and its full contents were made available to all members of the board to approve and amend before being sent. Former St Mirren chairman Stewart Gilmour remains a vocal critic of the SPFL and Doncaster, claiming the league acts in the interests of larger clubs including Celtic and Aberdeen. Claiming the time is right for Scottish football authorities to focus on talks over a new broadcasting deal with Sky and BT Sport, however, Gilmour said: ‘In terms of an independent review, you have to ask if it would do Scottish football more harm than good to have another review. ‘Neil Doncaster is jumping around all over the place and I think he needs to be questioned by the board over this. But at some point we have to get on with things. ‘I think a lot of the club chairmen are now saying: “Let’s get on with life”. We are stuck in a holding pattern and the most important thing is to try to grow the game. ‘Too many people, particularly in the SPFL, are engaged in politics. I have said for a long, long time the SPFL is too heavily influenced by one or two clubs. ‘A lot of the chairmen will not stand up for themselves because they are looking for loan players from larger clubs like Celtic. I always took the view we had to concentrate on ourselves as a club. ‘The driving concern of the most influential clubs is what is right for their own club as opposed to what’s right for the game or the bigger picture. ‘We have television deals which are shocking — particularly the BBC Alba deal which costs Championship clubs like St Mirren money by playing at 5.15pm on a Saturday for a tiny pittance to accommodate broadcasters. ‘The focus should be on these matters now and not past events.’