What has happened?

Craig Whyte has sold off four years' worth of season-ticket money to Ticketus for £24.4 million. Rangers won't confirm the amount – or how many years of season tickets have been used – but it says the arrangement was needed as "working capital" to fill the annual hole between its revenues and its spending, which it says is £10 million a year.

The goal of working capital management is to ensure that the firm is able to continue its operations and that it has sufficient cash-flow to satisfy both maturing short-term debt and upcoming operational expenses.

So why the concern?

Reports have led fans to raise queries over whether the level of funds obtained were used to help fund the Ibrox purchase, and in particular the wiping-out of the £18 million debt with Lloyds Banking Group, something Mr Whyte vehemently denies.

Supporters fear that if the club is taking advantage of future revenues now for short-term issues, this shows it is on an unstable financial footing.

Edinburgh-based Neil Patey, the football financial expert with audit and accounting giant Ernst & Young, who helped broker the deal that put Chelsea in the hands of Roman Abramovich in 2003, said it was "very rare" to borrow against four years of future season ticket income, adding it was "not a wise move".

Has concern been raised before?

Court papers relating to former chief executive Martin Bain's unfair dismissal case against the club state the club's former board of directors tried to "ring-fence" cash from season ticket holders from any sums that could be lost in tax liability.

His lawyers alleged that Mr Whyte did not ring-fence the money and contended that he arranged for the club to "assign its season ticket income for the next four years to a London finance company in exchange for cash-flow at the present time".

What is Ticketus?

The Ticketus business model is based on buying an allocation of tickets for an event, normally up to two years in advance.

Football clubs in financial difficulty have used Ticketus, which buys the tickets at a discounted price and provides clubs with immediate up-front capital. Plymouth Argyle, Hull City and Watford have been involved in such transactions.

Tickets are then sold through normal distribution channels, allowing Ticketus to recover its original investment, plus a margin.

What does Ticketus say?

Octopus Investments, which runs Ticketus, says Rangers "is one of many football clubs" it deals with.

A spokesman added: "We are happy with the commercial terms agreed some time ago and nothing has changed our view since then. We do lots of deals with sports clubs and do substantial due diligence on each counterparty."