‘It’s not surprising’ – SPFL respond to latest Rangers statement from Dave King
The SPFL have hit back at Dave King after the Rangers chairman called for action to be taken against Scottish authorities – for the second time in a week.
Last week he called for an investigation into SFA director Gary Hughes after he called Rangers fans “the great unwashed” in an interview to a trade publication 12 years ago.
Now, he’s released a statement on the Rangers website calling for SPLF chairman Murdoch MacLennan to be relieved of his duties while an investigation by a senior QC is conducted.
He was complaining about MacLennan’s appointment to the board of a media company owned by Celtic supremo Dermot Desmond.
However, the SPFL have hit back quickly and to shut down his complaints and have said there will be no investigation.
In a statement quoted by the Scottish Sun, they said: “It’s not surprising that Murdoch, having stepped down as deputy chairman of Telegraph Media Group, should be approached by other businesses in that sector.
“The members of the SPFL board were each informed of Murdoch’s appointment on January 19th 2018, the same day it was publicly announced in a press release from Independent News & Media PLC.
“That release was also circulated to the entire SPFL board that day.
“The appointment was widely reported in the national media at the time, including in the Sunday Times, Belfast Telegraph and Sunday Independent.
“No director raised this issue subsequently and it was not the subject of any board discussions.
“To be definitive, a non-executive position on a PLC does not constitute a business relationship between that individual and a minority shareholder in the company and therefore no investigation is warranted.”
Football Insider verdict:
There’s very rarely a dull day in Scottish football. After the previous Rangers call into Hughes’ insult towards Rangers fans, the Ibrox club cut Celtic’s ticket allocation for Old Firm clashes to less than 1,000. Celtic quickly responded in kind. Now Dave King has gone public with another statement about a potential conflict of interest at the SPFL. Rangers fans are completely behind King, but the SPFL has moved to release a definitive statement that says no action will be taken. That’s going to make Celtic happy but it’s going to ruffle Rangers’ feathers even more. Going public like this brings the complaints into the public eye and, whether there is any bias or conflict of interests or not, it puts Rangers on the front foot. It will be interesting to see what happens with the Gary Hughes case – today’s events perhaps make it more likely that action will be taken. Things aren’t going to get any quieter over at Rangers though, with Gerrard set to be unveiled on Friday, and lots of players linked with his revamp. We were looking forward to next season as soon as he was announced. Now it seems like it’s going to be a pivotal season in the Scottish top-flight.
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