Rangers chief executive Charles Green has been issued with a notice of complaint by the Scottish Football Association.
Green was charged for alleged comments made regarding the integrity of the commission, chaired by Lord Nimmo Smith, which will investigate the Ibrox club's use of Employee Benefit Trusts (EBTs).
The three-man panel was set up by the Scottish Premier League to discover if Rangers had broken any rules in using the EBTs during the tenure of former owner Sir David Murray from 2000 to 2011.
Green refused to recognise or co-operate with the commission, set to meet on November 13, and was reported as saying: "That's what we're going to spend our time doing, not turning up at supposedly independent hearings where the SPL appoint the jury, set the outcome, and set the punishment before we have the trial."
Green has been charged with breaching Disciplinary Rule 66 by allegedly bringing the game into disrepute with his comments.
He has also been charged with "not acting in the best interests of football by calling into question the integrity of the Commission".
Green was given until September 24 to respond to the notice of complaint, something he did tonight in a statement, claiming he was simply exercising his right to freedom of speech and standing by his comments.
He said: "We've made very clear in the statement that we made that we have never questioned the integrity of the panel. That is beyond reproach.
"What I do have an issue with is the fact that the SPL has relentlessly been pursuing a fixed and predetermined agenda on EBTs from the moment they realised that they would not be able to get Rangers back into the SPL without a fan revolt.
"Until that moment the SPL were looking to trade SPL status for an admission of guilt on EBTs and a sanction of stripped titles. We couldn't and didn't give them that.
"You need look no further than the initial draft of the five-way agreement.
"There is reference in that to EBTs and the outcome was stripping titles but if I make a statement that the SPL is pursuing a predetermined outcome then I'm bringing the game into disrepute.
"From the moment that SPL status for Rangers was off the agenda we've been heading for stripped titles.
"What I'm doing is using free speech to tell the fans exactly what has happened and I am now on disrepute charges for matters of fact.
"The words that seem to have upset the SFA so much are that 'the SPL appoint the jury, set the outcome and set the punishment before the trial' - those things are true and I stand by them.
"Whether or not the commission works to that agenda remains to be seen but let's be clear there was a predetermined outcome."
Green called on the SFA and SPL to release the first draft of the five-way agreement so the facts could be known.
He added: "In terms of this commission, if the SPL agenda prevails then Rangers will be found guilty and being found guilty we will lose five titles. If I'm wrong then it will be a different outcome.
"What I said before is that this commission is not independent because the SPL have set it up. Saying that they are not independent is not saying that they are not impartial.
"That's what I have an issue with and I will make these points when I go to see the SFA - not unless I'm in jail before then because there will no doubt be 50 odd charges by then.
"We want to focus on what's happening at the club in terms of filling the stadium, going to Annan and filling the town - they are the good things.
"But all people want to do is keep chasing Rangers and to chase us to the grave - and we are not going there."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article