Ally McCoist welcomes SFA announcement of panel for Rangers appeal

RANGERS’ appeal against sanctions imposed by the Scottish Football Association will be heard next Wednesday — and the panel members have been named following consultation with the police.

• Rangers were fined £160,000 and handed a 12-month transfer embargo

• Ibrox club found guilty of of five charges relating to financial affairs

• Lord Carloway, Craig Graham and Allan Cowan to sit on the hearing

• Rangers manager Ally McCoist welcomed the decision to name the panel today

Administration-hit Rangers were fined £160,000 and handed a 12-month transfer embargo by an SFA judicial panel last month after being found guilty of five charges in relation to their financial affairs and appointment of Craig Whyte as chairman.

The appeal panel will be chaired by Lord Carloway with Craig Graham and Allan Cowan also sitting on the hearing.

Lord Carloway has been a judge since 2000 and recently wrote a Government-commissioned report into criminal law and practice.

Cowan stepped down as Partick Thistle chairman in 2010 after 13 years on the Firhill board while Graham is chairman of East of Scotland League side Spartans and a partner at KPMG, which provides tax and auditing services.

The three members of the original judicial panel which handed out the punishment and SFA officials received security advice from police following reports of threats.

An SFA statement read: “In light of the subsequent leaking of the identities of the three panel members from the original tribunal, and given the exceptional circumstances of the appeal, it has been agreed that we will identify the members of the appellate tribunal in advance of the hearing.

“This decision has been taken with the approval of the individuals involved and after consultation with the relevant police authorities.

“It is essential that these panel members are allowed to conduct the appeal without fear of intimidation and we respectfully ask all involved in the process to do their utmost to observe our wishes and the wishes of the panel members.

Rangers manager, Ally McCoist welcomed the SFA’s decision to name those who will hear the appeal. He said: “We just want transparency and clarity and I’m delighted that the appeals panel has been named. We will get a fair hearing and hopefully the appeal will go our way.

“Effectively the worst scenario is that the embargo stays and we are not allowed to sign players for a year, and half our squad goes in the summer and we are left with a pretty depressing situation”.

Rangers received their ban on signing players aged over 17 and the bulk of their fine mainly because of a disrepute charge borne from their non-payment of more than £13 million in taxes since Whyte took over in May last year.