Whyte ‘guarantees’ that Rangers won’t go under even in worst-case scenario

RANGERS chairman Craig Whyte has offered a personal pledge that his club “will not go under” as he attempts to allay concerns expressed over their financial situation but admitted that their ongoing dispute with HMRC over tax liabilities leaves him unable to provide a cast-iron assurance that going into administration is not an option.

Speaking out for the first time in response to what he views as a “malicious” whispering campaign against the Scottish champions, Whyte admitted he is facing major difficulties in getting their business affairs in order.

The Motherwell-born businessman, who purchased Rangers for the nominal sum of £1 from Sir David Murray in May while taking on £18 million of debt which was owed to Lloyds Banking Group, was highly critical of the condition in which he found the club.

Leaked legal documents relating to former chief executive Martin Bain’s pursuit of loss of earnings and damages from Rangers suggested Whyte would only be prepared to pay £15 million of a potential £49 million tax bill related to offshore payments to players dating back to 2001, casting doubt on the club’s solvency. But Whyte, who described some of the content of the leaked papers as “drivel”, insists he has plans in place to cope with a “worst case scenario” should the major HMRC case go against Rangers.

“One thing I can guarantee everybody is that the club is not going to fail,” said Whyte. “Rangers will still be here, be playing at Ibrox and moving forward long after we are all dead and buried. The club is not going under.

“I didn’t buy the club to see it fail. Who knows what will happen with the (HMRC) tribunal? Our advice remains that we will win the case. If we don’t, then let’s deal with that then. There is no point speculating on what may or may not happen. We have inherited a mess from the previous management and there are a lot of issues we are working through just now. The HMRC case has been in the public domain for the last 18 months or so. Everyone knows that is a huge issue.

“It’s an elephant in the room for the club and I have said we will deal with it. There are various ways we can deal with it.

“It is pointless going into these sort of questions now until we know the outcome of any particular case but there is a plan to deal with it and that’s where we are. There is a plan for dealing with a worse case scenario. There always was, we were always aware of the worst case scenario and there was a plan for dealing with it.

“Obviously we are looking at all the financial aspects of the club on a continual basis. We are looking at the balance sheet, we are looking at ways to restructure the business, with regard to cost savings, the HMRC case and what have you. But I’m not going to get into it at the moment, what form that might take.”

Pressed on whether insolvency was a possibility in the event of that worse case scenario, Whyte replied: “It just goes back