Rangers newco: Ally McCoist and Charles Green to face SFA disciplinary hearing

RANGERS manager Ally McCoist and chief executive Charles Green have been issued with notices of complaint by the Scottish Football Association over comments made in the media.

Green faces a charge of bringing the game into disrepute for claiming “bigotry” was one of the reasons behind his club being denied entry to the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

McCoist has allegedly breached disciplinary rules as a result of comments he made about the SFA’s Judicial Panel in April, when he demanded the panel members be named.

Rangers and McCoist have until 17 August to respond, with a principal hearing date of 30 August set for both cases. Rangers chairman Malcolm Murray said the club would “vigorously defend” both Green and McCoist.

The charge against Green relates to a breach of the SFA’s Articles of Association “insofar as...Charles Green brought the game into disrepute and did not act in the best interests of football by not behaving towards other members with the utmost good faith.”

The former Sheffield United chief executive, whose Sevco consortium purchased the assets and business of Rangers when the club went into liquidation over the summer, made the comments in an interview ahead of Rangers’ Ramsdens Cup tie against Brechin on 29 July. Green told BBC Scotland: “Some of it has been driven by bigotry, some of it’s been driven by jealousy and some of it’s been driven by all the wrong

motives.”

McCoist faces three counts of breaching disciplinary rules for calling into question the independence of the Judicial Panel that sat in April to hear a case against Rangers and former owner Craig Whyte.

The manager is also charged with “not acting in the best interests of Association Football” by calling for the panel members to be named in public.

Rangers were hit with a 12-month signing embargo and fined £160,000 following the SFA hearing.

Speaking the day after the verdict was delivered, McCoist said: “I found out the decision last night and I was shocked and appalled by the way this supposedly independent judicial panel was coming down on us.

“Who are these people? I’m a Rangers supporter and the Rangers supporters and the Scottish public deserve to know who these people are, people who are working for the SFA.”

McCoist later defended his calls for transparency after Strathclyde Police confirmed they were investigating alleged threats made against the panel after the SFA said their identities had been “compromised”.

Rangers successfully challenged the ban on signing players in the Court of Session but have since accepted the transfer embargo after gaining SFA membership last month.