Clubs fear cinch row cash blow

when cinch’s branding was covered by masking tape as Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst conducted a post-match interview with Sky TV following his team’s 3-1 victory over Motherwell at Fir Park.

We understand, for production reasons, it was the broadcaster’s decision to cover up those logos in a specially-modified studio inside the stadium rather than conduct the interview trackside.

They feared Rangers’ PR department would not allow van Bronckhorst to appear before the advertising backdrop unless all cinch branding was blacked out.

Record Sport also understands the Ibrox club have been holding discussions behind the scenes with league chiefs in an attempt to defuse the stand-off which began at the start of the season, shortly after the £8m five-year partnership was first announced.

But even if an unlikely peace deal can be brokered, cinch may still feel shortchanged after nine months without their branding being displayed at the home of the current topflight champions.

And that has led to fears that the online firm may be unwilling to pay out in full when their first season in Scottish football reaches its climax next month.

As part of the agreement, which was hailed as the most lucrative sponsorship package in the SPFL’s history, a total of £1.6m is due to be paid up in a series of instalments over the course of every campaign before being distributed across all 42 clubs.

It’s unclear at this stage if those payments are fully up to date but some clubs are already bracing themselves for bad news when the cash is shared out at the end of the season.

And there are fears too that cinch could even pull the plug on the deal completely unless the situation is resolved to their satisfaction before the start of the next campaign.

Cinch and the SPFL both declined to comment last night.