Inverness chairman: SPL clubs are unhappy with Rangers court ‘mistake’

Kenny Cameron was pleased by the outcome of Wednesday's SPL meeting.SNS Group

Inverness Caledonian Thistle chairman Kenny Cameron has aimed a broadside at Rangers, saying that the other SPL clubs are unhappy the Ibrox club took a footballing matter to court.

Rangers went to the Court of Session over the registration embargo imposed on them by the Scottish Football Association for bringing the game into disrepute.

The governing body was told that the punishment was unlawful and the matter was referred back to them to choose a suitable sanction.

However, FIFA rules state that clubs should not challenge sporting sanctions in court and Cameron was unhappy at the potential implications of Rangers’ decision.

In a statement, Inverness said the club was as frustrated as their SPL colleagues at the fallout from Rangers having gone to court and raised the threat of FIFA action against Scottish football as a whole.

"This is an extremely disappointing situation,” he said.

"The Court for Arbitration in Sport was the correct route for Rangers to take, just as we successfully did in the Marius Niculae dispute.

"Taking sporting matters to the Court of Session was a serious mistake.

“The potential repercussions are something we certainly don't need at what is already a difficult time for Scottish football."

Cameron represented his club at Wednesday’s SPL meeting where new Financial Fair Play rules were considered, with some measures approved and other proposals rejected. The chairman said that the decisions allowed clarity in the future for any club with financial problems.

"It was pleasing to get most of the overdue resolutions cleared up so that the SPL can move forward in a positive manner", he said.

"The delay in voting for these resolutions has led to much speculation from many quarters regarding sanctions on teams going through a CVA process.

"Under the previous rules a 10 point deduction was the biggest punishment that a club could receive. This has now changed substantially and every case will be looked at individually by the member clubs to ascertain the reasons for the club going in to administration in the first place.

"The points deduction now in place is a far fairer system as a 10 point deduction to a club in the bottom six is certainly far more damaging than a 10 point deduction to a top six club.

“The fact that a club now loses one third of the previous year's total points is a much greater deterrent than was possible under the previous rules."

He added: "Under the proposals that were on the table, resolutions 2A and 2B, the punishment did not distinguish between cases and the new changes now give the member clubs the flexibility to impose punishment as they see fit and to match the situation.

"For instance, if a club went in to administration because they were owed money by a club currently in administration and were to suffer the same fate because of this outstanding debt would it be fair that they received the same level of punishment?

“Certainly not,and the new regulations provide this degree of flexibility to level a punishment befitting of the situation the clubs find themselves in."

“The tightening up of the regulations regarding players wages and HMRC payments are also a step in the right direction and should ensure a degree of transparency going forward that would have probably averted the situation Rangers FC currently find themselves in."

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