Green 'disaster' warning to SFA if Rangers are booted out of SPL

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UPDATED:

23:21 GMT, 3 June 2012

Prospective Rangers owner Charles Green last night warned the SFA it would be a 'disaster' for Scottish football if the Ibrox club was booted out of the game.

Green issued a statement on the mounting crisis as an Appeals Tribunal prepares to sit to consider possible new sanctions against Rangers.

Disaster for Rangers: Charles Green issues a warning to the SFA

Administrators Duff & Phelps last week won a Court of Session ruling that declared the original 12-month transfer embargo was not a punishment open to a Judicial Panel after it found the club guilty of disrepute charges.

That, however, could yet lead to an even more stringent penalty, as suspension or termination of SFA membership are among the reduced list of sanctions available after the court ordered the case back to an Appeals Tribunal.

Green believes either of those punishments would have a catastrophic effect on the Scottish game – and feels the lesser sanction of being excluded from the Scottish Cup would also have a detrimental impact on other clubs.

He is adamant that is not something he wants to see, creating the impression that he will try to table some form of compromise proposal after talks with legal advisors over the next 72 hours.

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SFA insiders have, however, insisted that only accepting the original transfer embargo, in some form or another, would be sufficient to prevent the tribunal from sitting.

Intriguingly, Green also appeared to leave open a possible appeal to the Court of Session over the fact the case was sent back to the Appeals Tribunal – and not the Judicial Panel that first imposed the registration ban.

'Lord Glennie has referred the matter back to the Appellate Tribunal which heard the club's appeal and we note a hearing is due to take place in due course,' said Green.

'Either party has 21 days to consider an appeal.

'It is the club's view that the matter should, in fact, have been referred back to the original tribunal which imposed the transfer ban because the Appellate Tribunal in its written judgment made clear the view they held on the appropriate alternative sanction to be imposed in the event that the transfer ban was successfully challenged.

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'We are fully aware that one of the sanctions available to the Appellate Tribunal, should the matter be referred back there, is the suspension or termination of Rangers Football Club's membership of the SFA.

'That, in our view, would be a disaster for Scottish football and a major setback to our plans to take Rangers forward after a particularly difficult period in its history.

'Equally, the alternative sanction of expulsion from the Scottish Cup is itself a very serious punishment which would also have a severe impact on Scottish football, as well as on our club.

'We will be considering with our legal team the best way forward after the public holiday.'

There have been suggestions that Green is unhappy at Duff & Phelps taking the case to the Court of Session in the first place, a move which has left FIFA monitoring the situation closely.

Last night, however, the former Sheffield United chairman claimed SFA rules meant they had no choice but opt for the civil courts.

That was countered by the governing body, who insisted no representation was made to them to discuss 'the possibility or the process of seeking arbitration via CAS before the judicial review was actioned'.

Green added: 'Throughout this process, the club, the administrators and – most importantly – the supporters have taken the view that any sanction against Rangers – due entirely to the misdeeds of individuals no longer at the club – should be proportionate.

'We and the administrators did not want to take the matter to a civil court at all.

'Unfortunately, the route to apply to the Court of Arbitration in Sport was not open to the club because the SFA's own articles fail to include a specific provision permitting appeals to CAS and the Judicial Panel Protocol contains a rule which prohibits any form of appeal to CAS or any other body.'