By Andrew Warshaw
April 12 – A potential new buyer for beleaguered Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers has been delayed because of a string of draconian proposals to heavily penalise clubs who fall into debt.
Administrators trying to save the 54-time Scottish champions had hoped to announce an offer for the club today but have had to hold back for fear the Scottish Premier League’s (SPL) plans might deter any purchaser.
On April 30, the SPL is to consider docking clubs who enter administration at least 15 points instead of the current 10 – or alternatively taking away a third of their points total from the previous season.
Other resolutions to be considered include a requirement for clubs to pay players on time and to report any failure to pay wages “in a timely manner”.
Failure to both pay wages on time and report it would be breaches of SPL rules.
The proposal that has particularly upset administrators Duff and Phelps is a restrictive plan to impose a 10-point penalty for two seasons on any club that transfers its share to a new company.
In other words, if Rangers is re-launched, it would immediately start 10 points behind everyone else.
Duff and Phelps slammed the idea as being obstructive to the chances of finding a willing buyer.
“Such measures being considered at such a sensitive point in the sale process at Rangers is disruptive and regrettable,” they said in a statement.
“We had hoped to announce [on Wednesday] the acceptance in principle of an offer for the purchase of Rangers Football Club, which would be followed by a period of exclusivity while due diligence is undertaken.
“Regrettably, this is not now possible as we were informed over the Easter holiday period that the SPL is proposing to consider at a general meeting on 30 April, significant rule changes in relation to clubs which find themselves in an insolvency situation.
“The effect of such revised measures being considered at this juncture is that we, as administrators are duty bound to inform those parties who have submitted bids of the proposed resolutions the SPL intends to consider.
“Failure to do so would constitute material non-disclosure on our part, which is a serious matter.
“Inevitably, bidders are now considering this information and will have to take a view as to whether it will affect their individual bids as they now stand.
“We hope to receive feedback from bidders as soon as possible in order for us to take the sale process forward as quickly as we can.”
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