Rangers crisis: Green grilled by football authorities about takeover

The footballing authorities have grilled prospective Rangers owner Charles Green about his takeover of the crisis-hit club.

Mr Green met Stewart Regan, Scottish FA chief executive, and Scottish Premier League chief executive Neil Doncaster at Hampden on Thursday.

The meeting came after Rangers failed to overturn a £160,000 fine and 12-month player signing ban handed to them by the SFA for several rule breaches, including bringing the game into disrepute.

After the meeting, Mr Green said: "The meeting has gone very well, it’s the first time I’ve met SFA or the SPL. Clearly it was important to just speak to them and introduce myself.

"The questions they were asking were just the obvious questions – what our intentions are, where we plan to go. We’ve achieved quite a lot, we’ve spoken to members of the board of the SFA and executives of the SPL and I think it’s been a very, very productive afternoon.

"I think we’re happy in that everyone is positive in looking at what’s the best for Rangers and the SPL. When we offered to buy the club we realised what the potential was. Last night’s announcement was an option we’d considered when we bought the club. We’re discussing all the options that are available to the club."

Former Sheffield United chief executive Mr Green is fronting a consortium, which he claims is made up of around 20 individuals and families from across the UK and the Far East. He has so far refused to reveal any of the identities of those involved, claiming he will do so once the purchase is finalised.

Duff and Phelps said they accepted Mr Green’s £8.5m offer for the club and entered into a “binding contract” with him for Rangers which will be completed on June 6, the date administrators hope to put a proposed company voluntary agreement (CVA) to creditors worth up to £134m.

Previously, SFA chief executive Mr Regan had indicated that he wanted Mr Green to be up front about those he has behind him in his offer, which comes after the club was plunged into administration on February 14.

Rangers failed on Wednesday night to overturn the decision of the SFA judicial panel to fine them and hit them with an embargo on signing new players.

The option of appealing the punishment to the Court of the Arbitration of Sport in Switzerland depends on whether or not the SFA’s existing arbitration agreement extends to deal with the punishment the association can dish out. The other possible route for the Ibrox club would be to take it through a court of law, which is similar what St Johnstone did in after receiving a £25 fine from the SFA over a testimonial match for a player in 1965.

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