Chief Executive Charles Green has announced that Rangers will not be attending a Scottish Premier League hearing on Tuesday regarding alleged undisclosed payments to players. With the newco at Rangers having been snubbed by the top flight in the wake of their financial troubles and forced to start from scratch in the Scottish Third Division, Green says the SPL hold no 'legal power or authority over the club'.
"The Rangers Football Club Limited will not attend tomorrow's hearing (Tuesday, September 11) of the SPL-appointed Commission investigating the circumstances surrounding the use of Employee Benefit Trusts by previous owners of the Club," Green said in a statement released on the club's official website.
"The club cannot continue to participate in an SPL process that we believe is fundamentally misconceived.
"Neither the SPL, nor it's commission, has any legal power or authority over the club because it is not in the SPL.
"For that reason it has no legal basis on which to appoint its commission. The club ceased to be subject to the SPL's rules when it was ejected from its league.
"Our lawyers have made that point repeatedly to the SPL in correspondence and yet our requests for an explanation from the SPL have been completely ignored. The SPL's silence on these issues is deafening. The outcome of the SPL's process will have no legal effect.
"First and foremost, I would like to explain this decision to our supporters across the world whose loyalty and commitment to the club in very difficult times has been unwavering and heart-warming for all those involved at the club. Our decision regarding this commission is approved unanimously by the board and the manager Ally McCoist.
"Since the decision was taken by HMRC on June 14 to reject administrators' proposals for a Company Voluntary Arrangement, the fate of Rangers FC lay firmly and clearly in the ability of the consortium I led to form a new company and corporate entity that would ensure that Rangers had a future as a football club.
"At all times we were fully transparent in our dealings with the football authorities, be they the SFA, SPL or the SFL.
"There was no ambiguity whatsoever regarding the status of the company when it made an application to join the SPL.
"As we all know, 10 SPL clubs decided against the admission of the new company to the league and The Rangers Football Club Limited subsequently applied to the SFL for membership and we are grateful for their acceptance.
"In short, what was decided by the SPL membership is that Rangers was finished as a member of the SPL.
"Despite this, the SPL now see the new owners of the company, and the new company itself, which owns all the assets of Rangers FC - including SPL championship titles - as fair game for punishment for matters that have nothing to do with us at all."
