'Don't pick on us,' says new owner of Rangers

CRAIG Whyte, the new owner of Rangers, has backed the government's new legislation for stamping out sectarianism in Scottish football but says he will not allow his club to be picked on in the battle against bigotry.

"We can't have sectarianism in a modern football club," said Whyte. "If you've been to the last few games at Ibrox, it (bigoted singing] was pretty much nonexistent.

"For commercial opportunities going forward we have to get away from it completely. Huge strides have been made since I used to go to games 20 to 25 years ago.

"It's important that we don't have it, but it's also important that our club is not singled out. It's something we have got to watch. We've got to make sure all fans are treated equally."

Whyte's comments chime with the Rangers support. At Ibrox, fans believe they get targeted more than other clubs. Rangers have come under the spotlight more than other teams and have been sanctioned three times by Uefa in recent years for sectarian chanting.

Their latest brush with the authorities came in March after their Europa League tie against PSV Eindhoven. After one of the games, in Holland, the official Uefa observer commented on sectarian chanting that emanated from the Rangers section of the ground but did not advise sanction. After the home leg in Glasgow, Uefa's official made no reference to discriminatory singing.

After both games, however, a member of the Fare organisation (Football Against Racism in Europe) reported Rangers for sectarian chanting.

Fare works in conjunction with Uefa, but has drawn heavy criticism from officials and supporters of the Ibrox club. Martin Bain, the then chief executive, was particularly critical of what he called an unaccountable group passing judgment on top level games. Regardless, Rangers were punished with a fine of 40,000 and a ban on their supporters travelling to their next away match in Europe.

Whyte gave credence to the notion that darker forces were at work against Rangers - a view sure to go down well with the rank and file at Ibrox.

"From what I've heard about Fare, there was some local Glasgow-based people who were looking to cause trouble for Rangers. That's what's been published and if that is the case it is clearly unfair on us," he said.

Fare has steadfastly denied the notion, popular among a section of the Rangers support, that the organisation is being driven by a group of Celtic fans.