Rangers win Court of Session appeal against Scottish FA signing ban

Rangers will again face the appeal tribunal of the Scottish FA.© STV

A ban on signing players imposed on Rangers by the Scottish Football Association has been overturned by the Court of Session.

At a hearing on Tuesday, the judge ruled a registration embargo was not a sanction available to the governing body to impose upon a club which had brought the game into disrepute.

The matter will now be heard again by the Scottish FA's appeals tribunal, which has been informed it must apply only the punishments listed as available to it in the organisation's protocol. Rangers were also awarded expenses by the court.

Rule 66 allows for a maximum fine of £100,000 to be imposed, as well as ejection from the Scottish Cup, a suspension, expulsion from participation in the game and/or termination of SFA membership.

Despite the ruling, Rangers are still unable to sign players as they are under a separate registration embargo imposed by the Scottish Premier League for being in administration.

Duff and Phelps, Rangers' administrators, said in a statement: "We welcome the decision by Judge Lord Glennie today that vindicates the club's position that the original SFA judicial panel tribunal and the appellate tribunal acted beyond their powers in imposing a transfer embargo on the club.

"The costs for this legal action have been awarded against the SFA and it is our position it is very regrettable that court action was required.

"Both we, and the SFA, will have to study the full ramifications of the judgement when it is published and either side has 21 days in which to decide the next course of action or whether they wish to appeal."

The Scottish FA said in response: “We are surprised by today’s verdict at the Court of Session, especially since the original sanction against Rangers FC was imposed by an independent panel chaired by a leading QC and upheld by an Appellate Tribunal chaired by a Supreme Court Judge.

“We will now consider our position with our legal advisers before making any further comment.”

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