No evidence of wrongdoing in Rangers’ dossier, says SPFL
Scottish Premiership club Rangers said they would "not be bullied into silence", as they released a dossier yesterday to support their case for an independent investigation into the handling of a controversial vote on ending the season.
But the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) said the Glasgow giants were yet to provide a "single shred of evidence" to support claims of corruption, bullying and coercion.
Rangers need 32 clubs to back their call for an independent inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the recent vote, which ended the seasons below the Premiership.
The leagues were decided on a points-per-game basis and the SPFL board has the authority to end the top-flight campaign using the same formula if it cannot be completed.
Rangers had called for SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster and legal adviser Rod McKenzie to be suspended, saying they had received "alarming" evidence from a whistleblower and that clubs were bullied into voting for the SPFL plan.
Rangers presented their case yesterday, ahead of next Tuesday's SPFL extraordinary general meeting and it was met with a strong response from the league.
"At last, Rangers have issued their 'dossier' and we will now take time to review it, before responding to all 42 clubs," said an SPFL spokesman.
"However, an initial examination of their 'dossier' has failed to identify a single shred of evidence to support Rangers' vociferous claims of corruption, bullying and coercion by SPFL staff."
Rangers were 13 points adrift of leaders Celtic when the season was suspended in March due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The cost of testing and a lack of gate receipts are understood to be major obstacles in the way of a restart for Scottish football.
Scottish Football Association president Rod Petrie told the BBC this week: "Your middle-ranking Scottish Premiership club might get four times the money through the gate as it does through its TV contract, so the economics (of closed-doors games) don't work in Scotland." - AFP
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