As shareholders prepare to descend on Ibrox this morning for the next stage of his coronation, Dave King declared that he could be crowned the sovereign of Ibrox within "a couple of weeks", once he is cleared as a fit and proper person to run the football club.

 

The Scottish Football Association is not expected to consider King's suitability to perform as a Rangers director at a board meeting in April. But King said at Glasgow Airport last night he did not believe it would take that long to clear his path to the throne.

King is expected to gain control of Rangers at an extraordinary meeting at Ibrox this morning, and has said that Paul Murray will be interim chairman until his own position is clarified with the SFA.

King's tax convictions in South Africa and his involvement in the oldco Rangers board prior to liquidation in 2012 has led to intense speculation about whether he meets the SFA's fit and proper criteria. King has said that the fit and proper issue is no deal breaker for him, and that if the SFA board rules that he is unfit to become a director he will simply run Rangers without occupying a place on the board.

In 2013 King paid fines totalling £180,000 - as an alternative to a potential maximum of 82 years in prison - for breaching 41 criminal counts of South Africa's Income Tax Act. He also agreed to a £45 million settlement to the South Africa Revenue Service in relation to outstanding tax liabilities. King also remained a member of the old Rangers board until June, 2012, four months after it went into administration under disgraced former owner Craig Whyte.

SFA chief executive Stewart Regan - who yesterday presented Brian McClair as the new national performance director - said of the King issue: "It's a process that is ongoing. Rangers are a PLC and have processes in place that will play out in the next day or two I guess. As far as the Scottish FA are concerned we will get involved as soon as the process allows us to get involved.

"I think for Rangers fans in particular it's important there is harmony and stability. We've had several years of uncertainty, changes of leadership and financial challenges and I think it's important for everybody's sake - particularly the fans - that some stability is restored and that whoever leads Rangers can set about rebuilding to get the club back in good shape again."

King stepped back from leading Rangers to allow time for regulators to clear him to serve on the Rangers International Football Club plc board. It came after WH Ireland quit as the club's stock market nominated adviser (Nomad) over concerns that he was taking control.

Asked about whether he will be chairman in the near future, King said: "Definitely. I just felt that it is appropriate ][to step back]. The whole fit and proper issue with me has been raised repeatedly and if I am going to try and take the club forward with a level of governance and transparency I think it is better to start with me. And I think it is right to sit back for a couple of weeks and let the regulators do their fit and proper."

He added: "I have made it clear I will do what it takes to facilitate the process."

King, who said he had lined up a new Nomad on behalf of the club, predicted that the club would need to raise more than £20m in the short to medium term.

Asked if he had the money to turn the club around, King said: "I I was willing to go 50/50 with other investors so I think between myself and other investors I think we have sufficient to take it forward in the medium term."

King said he "would expect other individuals" would take up the other 50 per cent, naming chairman-elect Murray, businessman George Letham, Sale Sharks owner Brian Kennedy and motor tycoon Douglas Park.

"I don't see me carrying the sole burden," he said. "I am standing here looking to invest having lost £20 odd million and I don't think I'll get my money back this time either.

"If I was trying to buy Liverpool Football Club I wouldn't compete with Mike Ashley. It wouldn't be a fair fight. He would knock me around. The fact is I have as much money as he (Mike Ashley) has got to invest in Rangers."

Asked whether Rangers would live within their means, King said: "I think long term they have to, but it's not going to be possible in the short term. I think the gap between Rangers and Celtic is too extreme at the moment because the standard for Rangers is to compete with Celtic. "

He said if Rangers got back into the Scottish Premiership it would "have a period where it's going to have to invest in the squad without the income on the other side (that Celtic would get from European football). That's why it needs a fans' based investment."

He added: "People in the City are not going to fund operating losses to bridge a gap with Celtic. Once we bridge the gap with Celtic I think both clubs should start operating within their means. But we have to invest to get to that point first. I think this is genuinely a new era for the club going forward."

King has more than the SFA to satisfy. He must also convince a new Nomad (nominated advisor) of his suitability to run Rangers on the Alternative Investment Market, an issue which would have to be resolved within 30 days if the club is to continue trading on the AIM.

The SFA was mocked this week for fining Newcastle United owner and Rangers minority shareholder Ashley, whose personal wealth has been estimated at £3.7 billion, just £7,500 over a breach of dual ownership regulations. The maximum he could have been fined was £10,000.

"Back in 2011 we moved to set up an independent process with a tariff of sanctions for rule breaches," said Regan. "It would be hypocritical that 'because he is a billionaire we are going to have a huge sanction for him'. The rule is the rule. The sanction is the sanction whether you have hundreds of millions or not. We followed the process."