SFLâs EBT Fury
Stripping Gers titles felt like a witch-hunt
PRESSURE last night mounted on the SPL and SFA as the Scottish League revealed they booted OUT calls for Rangers to be stripped of trophies.
A top SFL source confirmed yesterdayâs SunSport exclusive that Hampden bosses wanted Rangers stripped of nine trophies.
Our source said: âWe were given a first draft of proposed sanctions on June 25 â and we sent it back the same day saying we wanted no part of it.
âThat was the unequivocal SFL stance for a very simple reason â in this country youâre innocent until proven guilty.
âAt the time we were asked to strip Rangers of their League Cup wins, they hadnât been charged with a thing.
âWhen we received the letter on June 25 it hadnât been discussed in any shape or form. It was simply presented to us and we felt its contents, frankly, were outrageous.
âIt smacked of a witchhunt and we said we wouldnât be party to it.
âCharles Green was quoted during the week as saying the whole process investigating Rangers was âfundamentally misconceivedâ and we agree with that 100 per cent.
âItâs clear from the documents you have seen that sanctions were being openly discussed before anyone had been found guilty of anything.
âThe Sun has now seen that this paperwork exists and the SFA and SPL would do themselves a big favour by forgetting this notion of stripping Rangers of titles.â
The SFLâs hardline stance is bound to put the other two ruling bodies under pressure to explain their reasons for wanting to punish Gers in this way.
The top brass wanted Gersâ owner Green to accept being stripped of nine trophies â five SPL titles and four Scottish Cups â in exchange for the newco having the chance to be parachuted into Division One.
But there was no mention of the six League Cups Rangers won during the spell in question.
Green flatly rejected the offer as Gers have yet to be found guilty of any misuse of EBTs.
An independent commission â appointed by the SPL â will begin a hearing on November 13 regarding the alleged undisclosed payments.
Rangers have already refused to co-operate with the hearing â and Green faces SFA Judicial Panel charges for his comments about the process.
But Lord Nimmo Smith has hit back at critics, insisting the commission he will chair IS fully independent of the SPL.
He said: âItâs fundamental to the constitution of a body with investigatory and disciplinary powers, such as the present commission, that it must act independently of the person or body appointing it.
âNone of us would have accepted this appointment on any other basis.â
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