Rangers demand general meeting as they slam 'narrow scope' of SPFL investigation

Ibrox club issues 7-point plan
Rangers have issued a seven-point 'members' resolution.Rangers have issued a seven-point 'members' resolution.
Rangers have issued a seven-point 'members' resolution.

Rangers have demanded a general meeting of all 42 SPFL clubs to order a wider-ranging independent investigation into the governing body’s voting process which saw them pass the resolution giving them authority to call time on their 2019-20 Premiership season.

The Ibrox club have slammed the ‘narrow scope’ of the SPFL’s own investigation, carried out by independent auditors Deloitte and instigated by non-executive chairman Murdoch MacLennan and independent non-executive director Karyn McCluskey, which has declared there was “no evidence of improper behaviour” in the controversial submission of Dundee’s ultimately decisive vote last week.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Rangers say the Deloitte inquiry, which solely focused on the chronology of Dundee’s initial ‘No’ vote which failed to be counted on the original 10 April deadline, “alarmingly fails” to examine other related events and issues.

Backed by other clubs, understood to include Aberdeen and Hearts, Rangers have now formally submitted a members’ requisition calling a general meeting to consider calling an independent investigation.

Rangers, who have already called for the suspension of SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster and legal counsel Rod McKenzie amid claims of “bullying and coercion” in the lead-up to the vote, also repeated their assertion that they possess evidence of misgovernance which they would hand over to an independent investigation.

In a statement responding to the SPFL’s open letter from director McCluskey revealing details of the Deloitte findings, Rangers listed seven points they want to see addressed by a wider investigation.

They are:

“1. The preparation and content of the briefing note and papers sent to member clubs with the resolution;

“2.The decision to announce the result of an incomplete vote before all votes had been received;

“3. The decision to disregard the vote submitted by Dundee FC and allow them to vote a second time;

“4. The appropriateness of communications between the Executive of the SPFL and other football governing bodies in relation to completing season 2019/20;

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“5. The interaction of SPFL executives with clubs during the voting process including the disclosure to clubs of how other member clubs had voted;

“6. Compliance by the SPFL’s directors with the statutory and common law duties owed by them in relation to the resolution; and

“7. Any other matters which the independent expert considers relevant.

“We have received the SPFL’s open letter referring to the narrow scope of their investigation which alarmingly failed to examine wider fundamental issues.

“Rangers have made it very clear that we have a dossier of evidence which we will make readily available to an independent investigation.”

McCluskey, a former head of intelligence analysis at Strathclyde Police, describes Deloitte’s investigation as “forensic” in her open letter.

“In order to ensure complete probity and independence during this process, Deloitte was appointed by the SPFL’s non-executive directors to carry out a comprehensive and independent investigation into the factual chronology relating to Dundee FC’s return,” she wrote.

“Deloitte has completed its forensic investigation and the findings confirm the following sequence of key events on 10 April 2020 -

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“1. An SPFL Board Meeting commenced at 17:00 on Friday 10 April 2020. At the start of the

meeting 38 returns had been identified as received, and 1 further return was received during

the meeting at 17:10, bringing the total number of returns to 39.

“Ladbrokes Premier: 10 returns in favour, 1 against. Ladbrokes Championship: 7 returns in favour, 2 against. Ladbrokes Leagues One and Two: 16 returns in favour, 3 against.

“It was noted during the meeting that one vote remained outstanding from the Premiership,

one from the Championship, and one from Leagues One and Two.

“2. The Board meeting concluded at around 17:15.

“3. At 17:15, Neil Doncaster called Dundee FC Managing Director, John Nelms, and left a

message asking whether Dundee FC intended to submit a return.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“4. At 17:39, Neil Doncaster had a conversation with John Nelms and confirmed that as far as he knew, no vote had been returned from Dundee FC. John Nelms thought Dundee FC’s vote may have been returned, but would make enquiries.

“5. At 17:50, Eric Drysdale (Dundee FC Club Secretary) spoke to Iain Blair (SPFL’s Company Secretary and Director of Operations) asking whether Dundee FC’s return had been received. Iain Blair confirmed that it had not.

“6. At 18:00, a text was received by Iain Blair, from Eric Drysdale, intimating that the Dundee FC vote should not be considered as cast.

“7. At around 20:30, Ian Blair accessed the SPFL’s email quarantine system (which is a feature of the email system operated by a separate third party) at the suggestion of Rod Mackenzie (sic) and identified an unread email from Eric Drysdale that had been sent at 16:48 on 10 April 2020. Iain Blair released the quarantined email and it appeared in his SPFL email inbox at 20:55. Prior to identifying the quarantined email at around 20:30, no one from the SPFL had seen the email from Eric Drysdale.

“Deloitte’s examination of phone records, mobile communications (including texts) and email data has identified no evidence of improper behaviour by SPFL personnel concerning the submission of the Dundee FC vote.

“I hope that Scottish football will now focus on the significant issues that face our game, otherwise many clubs may not survive this period.

“We will have to be forward-thinking, and work collegiately to quickly present ideas and proposals to Scottish Government and others which will enable Scottish football to recover and progress.

“Make no mistake, this is a critical time for all clubs, and we must concentrate on what is important to the future of our game.”

Comments

 0 comments

Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.