SFA will need to seek Swiss solution over Rangers rules breach allegation
The Scottish Football Association will have to go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to pursue a case against Rangers for an alleged breach of rules over a Uefa licence.
The Ibrox legal team successfully argued that the issue would need to be dealt with by the Swiss-based court under the terms of the five-way agreement, which allowed Rangers to continue playing after the club was consigned to liquidation in 2012.
The SFA board will now have to review the findings and decide whether to take the case to the Lausanne court.
Rangers were hit with two charges in May relating to complying with Uefa rules, observing the principles of sportsmanship and “behaving towards the Scottish FA and other members with the utmost good faith”.
But the club refused to accept the notice of complaint and successfully argued at a preliminary hearing last month that the issue constituted a dispute under the terms of the five-way agreement between the SFA, oldco and newco Rangers and the two merged leagues.
Under the agreement, any disputes relating to historical matters have to go to CAS.
An SFA statement read: “This preliminary issue raised by Rangers FC challenged the jurisdiction of the Scottish FA’S Judicial Panel Disciplinary Tribunal to hear the case, and contended that the notice of complaint must be determined by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
“Having received submissions on 26 June the Judicial Panel Disciplinary Tribunal have issued a decision upholding the preliminary issue raised by the club.
“The Judicial Panel Disciplinary Tribunal proposes to continue consideration of the complaint until parties consider next steps and terms of reference for any remit to CAS.”
The SFA board and compliance officer will now need to weigh up the costs involved and whether the case sets a precedent before deciding whether to proceed. The issue centred on when oldco Rangers accepted liability for a £2.8million bill from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs – the so-called “wee tax case”.
The SFA opened an investigation into the controversy following evidence from former directors during a court case in which former Rangers owner Craig Whyte was cleared of several criminal charges.
In a letter to member clubs in September last year, the SFA wrote: “On the face of it, there seem to be contradictions between those statements and written representations made at the time.
“In 2011, Oldco indicated there was an ongoing dispute with HMRC, but the evidence in the Craig Whyte trial suggests that Oldco knew by early 2011 that it had no defence to HMRC’S claim.”
It is understood the charges relate to the “monitoring period” after Rangers were granted a Uefa licence on 31 March, 2011, and hinge on when the debt became overdue.
Rangers declared in May that they would “fiercely resist” the charges and accused the SFA of being “intent on harming the game”.
And they have now called on the governing body to move on as it contemplates whether to proceed with what could be an expensive litigation process.
A club statement read: “Rangers has always been clear about the futility of this action and hopes the Scottish FA will now put the matter to bed and agree to move on and concentrate on the development of Scottish football in the interests of all members of the SFA.”