Ally McCoist has called for a summit meeting on betting rules in the wake of the Scottish Football Association charging Ian Black with 160 counts of gambling on matches.
The Rangers manager, holding a press conference in advance of this evening's SPFL League 1 match with Airdrieonians, brandished a dossier containing the names of "football people" he claimed also enjoyed "an honest bet". He was responding to questions regarding the allegations against Black, who faces accusations of betting on fixtures stretching back to 2006. McCoist said that his dossier contained "a list of 10s and 10s and 10s of footballing people involved in the game who all stick coupons on and have an honest football bet."
He added: "Our boys gave me that in 10 minutes. I'm obviously not going to start naming names as that would be ridiculous."
However, he emphasised he wanted a meeting on the betting rules. "All I'm trying to say to everybody is, if we all need to sit down, whether that's the SFA, the players' union, Ladbrokes, whoever, we need to get around a table and get the whole thing sorted out. That's all I'm saying on it."
Fraser Wishart, the PFA Scotland chief executive, is to write to the SFA to request a review of its rules on betting and McCoist has tried without success to contact Ladbrokes, the company alleged to form a major part of the Black inquiry.
On the specific allegations that Black bet against his own team on three occasions, McCoist explained: "I know it's in the hands of his lawyer and the PFA [Scotland] lawyer so I can't comment on it."
He said that the midfielder would be part of his plans for the match against Airdrieonians, adding: "It is business as usual. I'm hopeful he can continue the good form that he's shown this season if he plays."
The player will be asked to attend a hearing at Hampden on Thursday, September 12. He has until Monday, August 26, to provide evidence to the governing body. Players registered in this country are prohibited by the Scottish FA from betting on any football match. If found guilty, players can be fined and can be either suspended or expelled from playing professional football.
The issue is something McCoist and Rangers could have done without at a turbulent time for the club but some progress was made yesterday with the Ibrox board announcing it has moved to decide on the proposed removal of directors at the annual general meeting in October in an attempt to avoid an extraordinary meeting next month.
A group of institutional investors in Rangers International had requisitioned for a general meeting to be held to remove chief executive Craig Mather, finance director Brian Stockbridge and fellow board member Bryan Smart at the end of last month. However, talks on moving the business to October are continuing.
Before the statement was released to the Stock Exchange, McCoist said: "I think we are all bored by it to a certain degree and I just need to concentrate on the football."
On that front, he said he had been impressed by efforts of trialists Steve Simonsen, a 34-year-old goalkeeper, and Sam Kelly, a 19-year-old midfield player. He also would not rule out a move for Boris Pandza, the Bosnian centre-half. The Rangers manager also said the recruitment of a centre-forward remained "a priority".
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