SPL Rule Changes Delay Naming of Winning Rangers Bid

Rangers’ administrator has expressed its frustration at having to delay announcing the successful bid for the club, due to planned discussions by the Scottish Premier League (SPL) to alter how insolvent Scottish football clubs are dealt with.

Proposals to be considered at the 30 April meeting include docking 10 points for two consecutive seasons to any club that transfers its shares in the SPL to a new company; one of the routes Duff & Phelps has previously suggested may be taken to save the Glaswegian club.

The firm was due to announce yesterday the acceptance of an offer from one of the three bids received, but has declared that the confirmation of that decision will now be delayed until further notice.

Duff & Phelps partner and joint administrator Paul Clark said: ‘We were informed over the Easter holiday period that the SPL is proposing to consider at a general meeting on 30 April, significant rule changes in relation to clubs which find themselves in an insolvency situation.

‘The effect of such revised measures being considered at this juncture is that we, as administrators are duty bound to inform those parties who have submitted bids of the proposed resolutions the SPL intends to consider. Failure to do so would constitute material non-disclosure on our part, which is a serious matter.’

He added: ‘We fully respect the right of the SPL to review its own rules and regulations and will not comment on the detail of what is being proposed for the meeting on April 30 at this stage. However, the fact that such measures are being considered at such a sensitive point in the sale process at Rangers is disruptive and regrettable.’