The evidence amounts to little but SPFL aren’t spotless
IT wasn’t as explosive as many Rangers fans had hoped – or SPFL officials had feared. The Ibrox club’s “dossier of evidence” was described as “alarming” before it was forwarded to the other 41 member clubs. That was perhaps an exaggeration. The overriding response to the revelations at the governing body yesterday was certainly one of relief not concern.
That said, there were still fresh allegations about the handling of the vote on the end of the 2019/20 season and accusations of serious misconduct by those who occupy senior office at Hampden which will need to be answered, and answered adequately, in the days ahead before the SPFL can move forward and address Covid-19.
Not least by chief executive Neil Doncaster. Rangers are convinced he was in breach of his fiduciary duties when he failed to disclose to member clubs that refunds of up to £10million could be due to broadcasters if they approved a resolution to end the season.
The Ibrox club also insist, not for the first time, that clubs were erroneously told they could only receive cash by voting for the resolution and are adamant there were other means by which the SPFL could have distributed funds to its members.
Furthermore, Rangers’ dossier reveals the briefing paper given to the SPFL board referred to substantial problems involved with league reconstruction – which is currently being discussed by a 15-strong working party – and details of these problems were omitted from the information handed to clubs.
It outlines that the consent of the SPFL’S broadcasting partners is required for a restructuring. “The significant difficulty in obtaining this consent whilst retaining the favourable terms previously negotiated with Sky was disclosed to the SPFL board, but omitted from the briefing paper given to clubs,” it reads.
The advice that Rangers’ have received from legal
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The German Bundesliga is set to start again on May 16. Plans for the top two tiers of German football to restart were approved by the federal government on Wednesday, making the Bundesliga the first of Europe’s ‘Big Five’ leagues to be given the green light after competitions across the continent were suspended due to the pandemic.
The 36 clubs gathered via conference call yesterday to formalise the fixture schedule, and it has been decided that matches will begin from May 16, restarting from matchday 26 and playing through to a final round of matches on the weekend of June 27 and 28.